KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Hospital blood tests taken from the driver who police say struck and killed Comstock Fire Chief Ed Switalski show that he had THC in his system. That’s the active ingredient in Marijuana.
The officer who escorted 24-year-old Brandon Clevenger to the hospital says he did not appear to be intoxicated and so they did not press for tests that night.
Undersheriff Pali Matyas says they only found out later when they were able to obtain the results from the tests run by the emergency room physicians that marijuana as present in the system, but because the hospital reports don’t measure the quantity, they could not use it as a basis for a driving while intoxicated case.
Clevenger is charged with reckless driving causing death, which carries the same maximum penalties as driving while intoxicated causing death.
