Woman remains in critical condition after head-on crash that killed 2

The woman injured in a head-on collision Monday in Pittsfield Township that killed the two drivers was still in critical condition Wednesday morning.

Pittsfield Township police said the 71-year-old Freedom Township woman remained at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Wednesday. The woman’s name has yet to be released by police, but authorities have said she is a relative of Neil Stierle, the 81-year-old Freedom Township man who was driving the Mercury Montego she was riding in when the crash occurred.

Stierle and 28-year-old Benjamin Alden, of Saline, were both killed in the Monday morning crash on Michigan Avenue near Textile Road. Police said Alden was westbound in a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt when it crossed into the eastbound lane and hit the Montego.

Police originally said Alden was from Ypsilanti Township, but Wednesday said he was a Saline resident Wednesday.

Stierle and Alden were both pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate all three people from the vehicles.

Police are still investigating the crash and have not said what caused Alden’s vehicle to cross the centerline. An update was sent out on the investigation Wednesday morning.

It was the fifth fatal crash in Washtenaw County in July.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.