“I really, truly feel that this could have been preventable,” Holly Switalski said of the crash that killed her husband.
KALAMAZOO, MI — The wife of a fire chief killed while working a crash scene on I-94 said his death was preventable and urged drivers to slow down for emergency vehicles.
Holly Switalski spoke following the sentencing of Brandon Clevenger in the June 2017 crash death of Switalski’s husband, Ed Switalski. She wore a cross necklace around the neck that held the ashes of her late husband.
“The words ‘blatant disregard for the emergency vehicle zone’ has been in my mind,” Switalski said. “I really, truly feel that this could have been preventable.”
At his sentencing, Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Paul Bridenstine said Switalski’s death was not an accident, and said Clevenger drove with “willful and wanton disregard.” Bridenstine said Clevenger chose to drive around 90 miles an hour, 20 miles an hour over the posted speed limit on the stretch of eastbound I-94 near the 81 mile marker.
Bridenstine said Clevenger came upon a crash where multiple emergency vehicles were staged and while fellow drivers slowed down, he did not. Bridenstine said Clevenger continued to speed then lost control and struck the center barrier, then “the laws of physics took over.” Clevenger’s car careened into the crash scene, striking Switalski, who was standing by his SUV. Switalski, a 37-year firefighter, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“He never had a chance,” Bridenstine told Clevenger before sentencing him to 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison. “The force of the impact due to your speed and inability to control the vehicle resulted in the fatal wounds to Chief Switalski.”
Clevenger, 24, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Dec. 14 to one count of reckless driving causing death in the June 14,2017 crash. Police say he was driving 90 miles per hour and was distracted by his cell phone in the moments that led up to the crash.
Holly Switalski said she was relieved that the sentencing was over, and said she and her family hoped Clevenger would get at least three years in prison for the crash.
Switalski’s youngest daughter, Emily Switalski, said at Clevenger’s sentencing she always worried as a child about whether her firefighter father would return home from work. She said a small part of that worry went away awhen he became chief.
“Never in a million years growing up is this how I pictured I would lose my dad in the line of duty,” she said.
Emily Switalski said she hopes the crash will cause people to slow down and move over.
“I really hope every time someone sees whether it’s a single squad car or a fire truck or an ambulance or a wrecker, anybody with lights on, you have to slow down,” she said. “There’s no ands, ifs or buts about it.”
She said even over the weekend, she was driving home on I-94 from Chicago and saw cars speeding by a state trooper who was pulled over on the side of the road.
“Please just slow down, move over,” Emily Switalski said. “Those are people’s lives. That’s what I hope.”
