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Delivery driver charged with negligent homicide in crash

June 25, 2002

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MUSKEGON, Mich. -- A pizza-delivery driver was charged on June 20 with negligent homicide in a May 29 crash that killed a West Olive, Mich., couple.

According to the Muskegon Chronicle, driver Michael John Beyrle, 23, ran through a stop sign and crashed into the car of Robert and Julie Dirkse. The couple's car then collided with a utility pole and caught fire.

The couple died in the crash, but their injured 12-year-old son, Steve, was pulled from the wreckage.

Police said Beyrle, who was making a delivery run for Vercelli's Pizza, looked down and took his eyes off the road, when he drove past the stop sign.

In Michigan, negligent homicide is a high-court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

State records showed that Beyrle's only previous driving violation was in 1995, when he was cited for disobeying a traffic signal.