A 21-year old from St. Joseph is dead following a crash on US-31 in Niles Township Saturday.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department says deputies were dispatched to the northbound lanes of the highway near Walton Road around 9:15 a.m. They arrived to find a 2012 Lincoln MK-Z 4 on its roof and blocking the northbound lanes. The Niles Township Fire Department was able to get inside, and paramedics found the driver deceased.
Investigators have determined the Lincoln had been northbound “at a very high rate of speed” when it passed another vehicle on the right shoulder. As it was getting back into the right lane, it struck the front of a 2018 Mitsubishi Mirage. That sent the Lincoln into a ditch where it hit a concrete bridge support before it shot back into traffic, landing on its roof.
The deceased driver of the Lincoln has been identified as 21-year-old Cole Toney of St Joseph. The driver of the other vehicle was identified as a 76-year-old Patricia Rummel out of Niles. Rummel suffered minor injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.
