Boy, 10, injured in Spring Lake Twp. crash

Fri, Feb 5, 2010    to del.icio.us

SPRING LAKE TOWNSHIP — A 10-year-old boy was hospitalized Thursday evening after the car he was riding in had an apparent mechanical failure and crashed into a guardrail.

Rogelio Garza, 60, was driving north on U.S. 31 near Wilson Road in Spring Lake Township at around 9:40 p.m. when the Muskegon man lost control of his 2002 Ford Focus and slammed into the median guardrail, Sgt. Jon Wolffis of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said. The impact with the guardrail spun the car around, Wolffis said, causing it to strike the guardrail a second time.

Garza reported a mechanical problem caused him to lose control of the vehicle.

A backseat passenger in the vehicle, 10-year-old Nathanael Garza, suffered head and neck injuries. The boy was taken to North Ottawa Community Hospital where he was listed in stable condition, Wolffis said.

Neither speed nor alcohol appear to be factors in the crash, police said.