Car strikes deputy at accident scene

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — An Ironwood man is facing charges after allegedly hitting a Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department deputy with his car while trying to drive through the scene of an earlier accident.

The deputy — whose name hasn’t been released by the department — was directing traffic at approximately 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the scene of an accident on Vanderhagen Road, near Sunset Road in Ironwood Township.

The Ironwood man, 35, was allegedly attempting to drive around the wrecker at the scene, according to the GCSD, when he struck the deputy in the side.

The deputy was spun around and fell, according to the GCSD, but was able to pursue the suspect in his patrol vehicle until he pulled over a short distance from the accident scene.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld pending arraignment, is charged with operating while intoxicated, fleeing and alluding, failure to yield to a stationary emergency vehicle and failure to submit to a preliminary breath test.

The deputy was uninjured, but was examined at Aspirus Ironwood Hospital as a precaution.

—Richard Jenkins