Pickup Truck

Hundreds gathered in Elkhart Monday to remember a 12-year old girl ... Da'Jeianna Smith ... who died last week, a day after being struck by a truck. The large gathering was on the softball field at Woodland Elementary School where Da'Jeianna Smith played first base for the Woodland Rockets. Teammates, teachers, friends, and family lit candles and shed tears for Da'Jeianna. Da'Jeianna died a day after being hit by a pickup truck while walking along County Road 108, not too far from Woodland School.

It's unknown when the pickup truck crashed into a tree on the gravel road, but a passer-by saw the wreck called 911 just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit told WSBT two teens, 17 and 18, were seriously injured in the crash. One was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend; the other was taken to a hospital via ambulance. The truck crashed on a gravel road off Lakeside Road, between U.S. 12 and Maudlin Road. Stay with WSBT for updates to this story on air and online.

BEAVER CREEK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A 45-year-old Detroit-area man has died following a snowmobile crash in the northern Lower Peninsula. The Crawford County sheriff's department says the man from Plymouth was riding on a logging road in Beaver Creek Township when he rounded a corner and collided with an oncoming pickup truck. The pickup truck driver wasn't hurt. Names weren't immediately released. The sheriff's department says the snowmobile was traveling at a high rate of speed and excessive speed was believed to be a major factor in the crash.

Three Vicksburg residents were arraigned in 7 th District Court Monday on charges stemming from their arrests for throwing large rocks at passing vehicles. The incidents occurred on M-43 near 46 th Street. A woman was struck in the head by a large rock when it smashed through the windshield of a pickup truck she was riding in Saturday night. The woman was taken to a hospital in Bronson for treatment and later released, police said. A driver and passenger in another vehicle struck by a large rock were not injured.

MARSHALL COUNTY -- Two people were killed and two people were taken to the hospital following an accident in Marshall County Tuesday morning, around 6:30. A WSBT photographer on the scene said a car crossed the center line near the intersection of 5A and Michigan Roads just north of Plymouth. It hit a pickup truck head on, spun around and was hit by another car. There were three passengers in a Honda. Police say two of the passengers passed away: 21-year-old Wesley F. Collins of Plymouth and 18-year-old Conner A. McGee of Muncie.

DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler is recalling more than 242,000 Ram pickup trucks because of a problem in the steering system. The recall affects certain Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2008 to 2011 model years. The Ram is Chrysler's best-selling vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that a part near the left wheel can fracture and cause loss of steering control, leading to crashes. The problem happens mainly at low speeds when drivers are making tight turns.

PHOENIX (AP) — The office of an Arizona sheriff known for his efforts against illegal immigrants has settled a claim with two men and will pay $200,000 in a racial profiling case. The claim arose from one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's (ar-PY'-oh) worksite enforcement raids. Deputies raided a landscaping company in search of identity-theft and fraud suspects Feb. 11, 2009. They stopped Julian and Julio Mora's pickup truck outside the business.

VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana man has pleaded guilty to charges that he fatally shot his 32-year-old son while they argued inside a pickup truck. Sixty-nine-year-old James Blum of rural Valparaiso had faced murder charges in the August 2009 death of Aaron Blum. He occasionally cried during a Porter County court hearing Tuesday as he pleaded guilty to a reckless homicide charge. The Post-Tribune reports Aaron Blum had recently been arrested for drunken driving and that James Blum told police an argument broke out as they discussed the younger man's future.

A 35-year-old Shipshewana man driving east on S.R. 120, west of S.R. 5, struck the left rear of a buggy he tried to swerve around. The impact rolled the buggy on its side and the man’s pickup truck into a sign at Shipshewana Campground. Dustin Sailor was trapped in his pickup truck and was airlifted for treatment of head injuries. Thursday morning, Sailor is listed in good condition at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. A LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department news release indicates Sailor crested a hill and encountered an eastbound buggy with six occupants driven by 34-year-old Lloyd Hershberger, also of Shipshewana.

GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say they're investigating whether three men dragged a dog to death behind a pickup truck in the western Lower Peninsula. The Muskegon Chronicle reports that authorities followed a trail of blood from a location in Oceana County's Golden Township for about three miles Thursday in before finding a buried dog and evidence that it had been dragged. They were alerted to the blood by a 911 caller. Authorities say they found the men at a home in the Mears area and questioned them.