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YPSILANTI, Mich. (WJBK) - An innocent man was killed, caught in the middle of two speeding cars racing down Ecorse Road in Ypsilanti.
We are learning more about the victim - and the minutes leading up to the crash. On video first you see the smoke from the impact - then the Audi sliding down the street and coming to a stop. Moments later the driver gets out and walks away.
Investigators say he and the driver of a Chrysler 300 had been speeding - possibly street racing, down Ecorse in Ypsilanti Township Wednesday morning - when they crashed into a red Ford Fusion.
It killed 62-year-old Mike LaChance of Whitmore Lake.
"He's a pretty quiet guy but nice - a man that just lived within his means and was polite to anybody so it's a shame it happened to him," said Candy Werner, his neighbor.
"I just couldn't believe it - I thought it must be a mistake," said Dan Gray.
Gray had been friends with Mike for decades - he says the victim was originally from Escanaba, but moved to metro Detroit years ago for work and was enjoying his retirement. He loved to barbecue and loved a good bargain. He had just left Big Sky Diner when he was hit by those speeding cars
"He was a cautious driver, when he would come up to an intersection he'd look and wait," Gray said.
But investigators say Mike didn't have a chance - the men who hit him were going way too fast - both fled the scene after the crash.
One was arrested in a nearby neighborhood - he's hospitalized with a broken leg. Police are still searching for that other man - seen on video walking away and have now released a photo of 25-year-old Duane "Che" Cochran - wanted for questioning in connection with that crash.
Police say Cochran is suspected to be the driver of the Audi.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department told FOX 2 they are also still trying to determine - if the men were really racing or if it was something else.
"The vehicles were traveling at a high rate of speed," said Derrick Jackson, Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department. "We're still trying to figure out exactly what they were
doing. I know people said they were racing. But were they racing, or fleeing - we just haven't gotten that level of detail yet."
Anyone with information please contact the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department at 734-971-8400.