A man initially believed to have been killed in a hit-and-run was actually struck by a snowplow operated by the Road Commission for Oakland County, according to investigators in Farmington Hills. Police say the plow driver, 51-year-old Bryan Derryberry, has now been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash that occurred early on New Year’s Day along Middlebelt Road.
The Farmington Hills Police Department say officers responded around 8:00 a.m. Jan. 1 after a report of an unconscious man lying on the roadside near Middlebelt between 9 Mile and 10 Mile roads. The victim, identified as 68-year-old Edward Detroit of Macomb County, was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators later determined a county road commission plow truck was in the area at the time of the crash and confirmed through physical evidence that the vehicle was involved.
Court records show Derryberry was arraigned on one felony count of failure to stop at the scene of a serious injury accident, a charge that carries a possible 5-year prison sentence. He was released on a $100,000 personal bond and is scheduled to return to court for a pre-exam conference on Jan. 16. A spokesperson for the Road Commission said the agency was “absolutely stunned” by the incident and declined further comment while the case proceeds through the court system.
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