By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A fatality Thursday at an area fast food restaurant is being preliminarily ruled as a medical incident by authorities.

Just after 1pm, a vehicle in the drive-thru line at the McDonalds restaurant on Grand River, west of Latson Road in Genoa Township, didn’t move forward, prompting others in line to start honking. Finally, someone approached the vehicle and saw the driver was unconscious and alerted staff inside. An employee then attempted CPR, but was unable to revive the victim, identified as a 69-year-old Howell man, who was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene by first responders.

The restaurant’s parking lot was closed off for at least two hours while the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation. Sheriff Mike Murphy says it appears to have been a natural death, although they are waiting for results of a toxicology report. However, the man did have an underlying health condition. Murphy says the reason for the lengthy closure was so they could conduct a complete investigation, which they do in any incident where the cause of death is not obvious.