Semi truck driver charged in US 31 crash.

Ashley

#OceanaCountyNews #US31Crash

By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — The 25-year-old Ludington man who rear-ended a family of five and another motorist on US 31 near Stony Lake Road, July 5, has been arrested and charged with “violation of motor vehicle code causing serious bodily impairment,” according to Lt. Craig Mast of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.

Jonathon William Ashley’s bond was set at $5,000/10 percent, Mast said.

The young boy who was critically injured in the semi/two-car crash in Shelby Township has suffered a “catastrophic brain injury and will likely need care and follow-up for the rest of his life,” said Mast, who spoke with the boy’s father, Benjamin Weston.

Ashley rear-ended two vehicles, one of which was transporting the Wesley family, in heavy southbound traffic near New Era.

Ashley was driving a 2016 Freightliner owned by Apache Logistics of Holland at 12:45 p.m. when the horrific crash occurred. The accident scene backed up traffic for hours as vacationers were heading back south after the Fourth of July weekend.

Connor was 4 years old at the time of the crash and has since turned 5. He was riding in a 2000 Subaru Outback driven by his father. Also in the car were his mother, Michelle Weston, 36, and brothers, Dylan, 7, and Logan, 10. The family was traveling between destinations while on summer vacation.

The semi also struck a 2016 Mazda driven by Jerrine Marie Forrest, 34, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania.