Troopers from the Michigan State Police Mount Pleasant Post are investigating a car accident that killed a Stanwood man and a horse. 

 

It happened Sunday morning around  9:30am, MSP says a trooper was assisting an 85-year-old Stanwood man with getting a horse back to the man’s residence on 8 Mile Rd east of 170th Ave within Mecosta County’s Austin Twp.

 

As the trooper was in the process of assisting the citizen in getting his horse back home, preliminary investigation shows that passenger car, driven by a 43-year-old Mt. Pleasant woman traveling west on 8 Mile Rd. lost control of her vehicle, crossed the centerline, and struck the man and his horse on the side of eastbound 8 Mile Rd. After striking the man and horse, the vehicle then struck the patrol vehicle occupied by the trooper. 

 

As a result of the crash, the Stanwood man and his horse received fatal injuries.

 

The trooper was medically treated and released for injuries he sustained in this crash.

 

The Mt. Pleasant woman was not injured in the crash, which remains under investigation.

 

The deceased was identified as 85-year-old Robert Johnston of Stanwood.