Traverse City Sisters Track Down Suspected Drunk Driver After Hit-And-Run

“Everybody needs a helping hand now and then. Don’t be afraid to help.”

Two sisters jumped in to help total strangers after their car was hit on Christmas Day.

The crash happened in Traverse City on Munson Avenue near Cochlin Street.

Police says Mark West hit the Jeep the Summers’ family was in and toOK off.

But two sisters who saw it all happened helped track him down.

9&10’s Caroline Powers and photojournalist Jeremy Erickson spoke to the family and sisters about the crash.

Margrit and Kathy were getting ready to leave the 7-11 parking lot when they heard a big crash.

They didn’t think twice about running over to help.

“We just got slammed from the back end, pulled over immediately, and the car just kept going,” says Daniel Summers.

Daniel Summers was on his way to his parents’ house on Christmas with his wife and 2-week-old son in the car when police say Mark West rear-ended them and took off.

“I was a little upset about that to put it mildly,” Summers says. “Just to hit someone and take off. Just with the little boy and my dear wife in the car.”

Luckily for the Summers’, Kathy and her sister Margrit were there.

“You could hear the crunch of the metal and the plastic breaking up and stuff,” Margrit Anslow says. “It was loud.”

As they were helping the family, Kathy’s grandson saw the car drive by.

That’s when they decided to follow it.

“We were talking to 911 and giving them the license plate number and followed them to the hotel down the road there,” says Kathy Anslow.

Police arrested West at the Grand Traverse Motel for drunk driving.

Kathy and Margrit say everyone should look out for each other.

“Don’t be afraid to stop, help out. Throw fear away. Reach out and be that person because someday you might be in need,” says Margrit.

“Still that ruined their Christmas, no doubt, but at least they were ok. And that was huge,” Kathy says.

The prosecutor authorized charges against Mark West for operating while intoxicated, operating without insurance, driving with a suspended license, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.