A Sterling Heights man was arraigned on a felony traffic charge after a Sept. 5 fatal crash in Commerce Township, according to Oakland County Sheriff officials.
Waterford Township resident Matthew John Szakal, 30, died in the crash.
Kevin Joseph Koldys, 51, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death. He remains in the Oakland County Jail after 52-1 District Court Magistrate Lewis Langham set a $25,000 bond. If convicted, Koldys faces up to 15 years in prison and/or a fine between $2,500 and $10,000, or both.
Koldys was involved in a three-car crash on Pontiac Trail at Martin Parkway in Commerce Township.
He was driving a 2021 Lexus that struck the 2017 Chevrolet Trax Szakal was driving. Koldys was northbound on M-5 when the
Lexus ran off the roadway and several hundred feet through tall grass and weeds before returning to the road, jumping the curb at a roundabout and hitting Szakal’s Trax.
The crash sent Szakal’s vehicle careening into a 2021 Honda CRV. Szakal was wearing a seatbelt and pronounced dead at the scene. The CRV’s driver, a 64-year-old Wixom woman, was also wearing a seatbelt and suffered minor injuries.
Koldys suffered serious injuries. The sheriff’s crash reconstruction investigators reported that excessive speed and alcohol use by Koldys appear to be factors in the crash.
Koldys is scheduled to return to 52-1 District Court in Novi on Dec. 30 for a probable cause conference.