A 34-year-old Troy man faces a felony reckless driving charge in the May crash that killed O'Brian Nelson at Woodward Avenue and Quarton Road in Bloomfield Township.
The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office filed the charge on Wednesday, Sept. 23, nearly four months after the collision, WXYZ-TV first reported. The accused driver is expected to turn himself in and be arraigned on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Reckless driving causing death carries up to 15 years in prison under Michigan law.
The crash happened late on May 30 at the Woodward and Quarton intersection. Bloomfield Township police said the Troy man ran a red light while heading westbound on Quarton Road in a Jeep, struck a Dodge Charger and then T-boned Nelson's vehicle, killing the 30-year-old Farmington Hills man. Witnesses had called 911 moments earlier to report the same SUV driving recklessly, according to WXYZ's earlier coverage.
Nelson's vehicle traveled several hundred feet west of Woodward from the force of the impact, and the Jeep caught fire, The Oakland Press reported in June.
The gap between the crash and the charge weighed on Nelson's family. Bryan Nelson, O'Brian's father, spoke to WXYZ on Sept. 23, what would have been his son's 31st birthday.
"116 days. I've seen people getting arrested for just not wearing a seatbelt. I've seen people get arrested for just talking too much. 116 days later. I shouldn't be talking to you," Bryan Nelson told WXYZ.
Bloomfield Township police said investigators did not hand the case to the prosecutor's office until Aug. 27. The suspect was hospitalized until late July, and investigators could not subpoena his medical records until after his discharge. Obtaining toxicology reports and analyzing data from the vehicle's black box recorder also contributed to the delay. The prosecutor's office then took about a month to make a charging decision.
Bloomfield Township Police Officer Heather Glowacz told WXYZ in June that the driver was "going very fast when he ran the red light" and that witnesses described his speed as "very, very fast." Early in the investigation, police said drug use may have been a factor in the crash, though blood test results were pending, The Oakland Press reported.
Boyd White, the Nelson family's attorney, told WXYZ that a civil complaint has been filed against the suspect driver and the vehicle's owner. Those complaints were being served as of Sept. 23.
The suspect's name has not been released publicly.






