FATAL CRASH-—This SUV struck a Buick Roadmaster that ran a stop sign at Tefft and 13 Mile. Photo by J. Reed
by JUDY REED
Margaret and Jerry Yakes were sitting in their family room about 7 p.m. June 3, when they heard an explosion, and then another. It was followed by sirens. What the Yakes heard was the crash at the corner of Tefft and 13 Mile Road, in Courtland Township, that killed 87-year-old Pauline Squires, of Rockford.
“It’s a nasty intersection,” noted Margaret Yakes, who lives just north of the intersection on Tefft.
According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Mrs. Squires was traveling southbound on Tefft in a Buick Roadmaster, when she failed to stop at the stop sign at 13 Mile. As she traveled through the intersection, she was struck by a westbound Ford Expedition driven by John Robinette, of Grand Rapids. Both vehicles rolled several times, with the SUV coming to rest at the southwest corner of the intersection, and the Buick in the field southwest of the intersection. Mrs. Squires was pronounced dead at the scene, and Mr. Robinette was transported to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital by Rockford Ambulance with broken ribs. Courtland Fire, Rockford Police, and Cedar Springs Police all assisted at the scene.
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