Crash splits Tesla in half • Lions headed to playoffs • Swan Boat Club crash update

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - A driver is lucky to be alive after a crash so severe that it split a Tesla in half.

Security video showed the car barreling down Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth on Thursday afternoon before slamming into a gas station mailbox and car wash sign and then flipping.

"I saw a disaster out there today," witness Bob Tiplady said. "I heard the noise, and we looked, and everyone started running outside. It was pretty bad."

Tiplady saw signs of life from the driver when they were removed from the car.

Sources tell FOX 2 the driver may have suffered a medical emergency that led to the crash.

Swan Boat Club suspect due in court

Marshella Chidester is due in court for a hearing after she was charged and bound over for trial for the deadly Swan Boat Club crash.

Chidester, 67, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury for the April 20 crash at the Swan Boat Club that killed 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 5-year-old Zayn Phillips.

According to court filings, Chidester has requested that her case be moved to another court. Currently, the case is in Monroe County's Circuit Court. That issue is expected to be discussed during Friday's hearing.

Chidester is also seeking to have statements she made before she was read her Miranda Rights removed from evidence. According to court records, she has requested an evidentiary hearing to address that matter.

According to video shown previously in court, Chidester left her home next to the Swan Boat Club and hit a neighbor's vehicle before speeding through the club's parking lot. She crashed through the wall of the building while a children's birthday party was being held, hitting numerous people who were celebrating. 

Lions headed to playoffs

With Thursday's win over the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions clinched a playoff spot.

The NFC-best Lions (12-1) broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win — including two over the Packers (9-4) — to stay ahead of Minnesota (10-2) in the highly competitive NFC North.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down five times, including with 1 yard to go at the Green Bay 21 with 43 seconds left, and his gambles backfired only once.

David Montgomery ran for 7 yards, barely getting a handoff from Goff after the quarterback tripped and was falling toward the turf. That ensured the Lions could try a field goal without giving the Packers the ball back, and Bates hit his third-game winning kick this season.

The Lions defeated the Packers 34-31.

Livonia car dealership loses license

A car dealership in Livonia had its license suspended after falsely claiming used vehicles were new, leading to misrepresentation of some of their inventory.

The violations posed an "imminent harm to the public," the Michigan Department of State said in a news release, leading to the agency taking action against LaFontaine Hyundai of Livonia.

The department is also considering referring the case to the attorney general for a possible criminal investigation.

According to MDOS, both it and the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association issued bulletins that reiterated what makes a vehicle "used" under the current state vehicle code.

The news release added that the corporate office of LaFontaine told employees to submit false information "even after the bulletins were issued."

FBI issues warning about texting

FBI officials are once again urging Americans to use encrypted messaging to communicate in the wake of one of the largest cyberattacks ever reported.

Dubbed Salt Typhoon by analysts, the wide-ranging cyberespionage campaign emerged earlier this year after hackers sought to penetrate the networks of multiple telecommunications companies. The White House said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted. Officials said China is responsible for the major breach, though China denies those claims.

According to NBC News, AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies were among the companies China hacked to spy on customers.

Despite months of investigation, the true scale of China’s operation, including the total number of victims or whether the hackers still have some access to information, is currently unknown.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Today will be cold, but warmer temps are right around the corner.

What else we're watching

1. Inskter police are looking for two women after another woman was stabbed in the face during a fight Thursday afternoon.
2. Macomb County officials said cleaning up roadkill is expensive, and they are now weighing asking for more money to help manage the problem. The issue came to light after drivers complained about the number of dead animals along roads.
3. Washtenaw County has a new sheriff - Alyshia Dyer, and she's not only the first woman to hold the role, she's also the youngest person to do so.
4. Police are investigating after a pedestrian was hit and critically injured while crossing Southfield Road between Ford and Jefferson on Thursday night. The responsible driver stopped to check on the victim and then fled.
5. The snow may be out of the forecast for now, but drivers need to know about a new law involving plows. Drivers can face up to a $100 fine for being more than 200 feet away from a moving plow.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reverses decision to put a time limit on anesthesia

One of the country’s largest health insurers reversed a change in policy Thursday after widespread outcry, saying it would not tie payments in some states to the length of time a patient went under anesthesia.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said in a statement that its decision to backpedal resulted from "significant widespread misinformation" about the policy.

"To be clear, it never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services," the statement said. "The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines."

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield would have used "physician work time values," which is published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as the metric for anesthesia limits; maternity patients and patients under the age of 22 were exempt. But Dr. Jonathan Gal, economics committee chair of the American Society for Anesthesiologists, said it’s unclear how CMS derives those values.

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