By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

BUCHANAN – One man has been confirmed dead in an early morning accident that took place on Rynearson Road just across the street from Brookwood Golf Course in Buchanan.

At approximately 7:30 a.m., a report was made of an accident involving one vehicle, a Toyota sport utility vehicle.

The vehicle, according to Lt. Don Goulooze of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, was coming around a curve in the road headed out of the city.

The driver, Goulooze said, apparently took the corner while traveling too fast. The vehicle went off the road and crashed into a brick entrance sign to a subdivision and flipped onto its right hand, passenger’s side.

The driver and passenger are brothers – Goulooze said, though names have not yet been released.
Alcohol was a factor in the accident, said Goulooze and neither of the men were wearing their seat belts.

Emergency response medical personnel from Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service began treating the passenger for his injuries and continued to do so on route to Lakeland Hospital in Niles.

The driver was also taken to Lakeland to be evaluated for injuries, though Goulooze said the driver was walking and talking after the accident.

The passenger was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.

Both men were in their 40s, Goulooze said.

By 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, members of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department and the Buchanan Township Fire Department continued to investigate the scene. The Berrien County Road Commission was expected to help in the cleanup.

It is unknown at this time whether the two men were Indiana or Michigan residents.
Operating while intoxicated causing death is a felony charge.

More information to come as soon as it is made available.