By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is crediting “good old fashioned police work” and tips from the public with helping identify a person of interest in a hit and run crash in Iosco Township Sunday night.

17-year-old Lewis Higgins was struck by a white pick-up truck around 9:30pm Sunday while riding his bicycle on Bull Run Road near Munsell Road. There was a witness to the crash and the driver was said to have initially stopped but then left the scene. Higgins suffered serious injuries that included broken bones in his feet and legs and a fractured pelvis. He was last in stable condition at the University of Michigan Hospital. The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office has since located the vehicle involved in the crash and developed a person of interest and thanked the community for all of the tips provided.

Sheriff Mike Murphy tells WHMI hit and run incidents are very difficult because based on the very nature, people don’t stick around. Fortunately, he says there happened to be a witness that came upon the crash essentially at same time it happened. Murphy says the suspect did stop initially but then left the scene. He credited good police work and community cooperation for what helped them develop leads, which ultimately led to the suspect and vehicle.

He says it really was the public and “good old fashioned police work” as they called in the Detective Bureau, which did door-to-door canvassing and pulled video where they could from people in the neighborhood with doorbell surveillance and area businesses. Murphy says they were ultimately able to track down a person of interest, secure the suspect vehicle and process evidence off that, which will be sent to the lab. Murphy said they still have quite a bit of investigative work to do but at end of the day; he’s very comfortable they’ll be able to seek charges against the individual who left the scene.

Meanwhile, Murphy said in speaking with the victim’s family, Higgins is doing better but has a lot of broken bones and will have a long recovery but is doing better and will survive so that’s good news. He said the bad news is that at age 17, Higgins should be enjoying life - not concentrating on rehab but he’s alive and they’ll be able to bring the suspect to justice, again crediting good police work and community cooperation.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with medical expenses for Higgins. That link is provided.