Action News obtains police reports in violent crash that injured four, including L. Brooks Patterson

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - Action News is learning more about the violent crash that injured Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and three others.

The new information comes from a stack of police reports and witness statements obtained by 7.

The documents reveal Patterson's seatbelt was buckled, but looped behind the seat.

Anthony Prainito, who was driving on Walton Boulevard, was turning onto Opdyke Road on a yellow blinking light. As he made the turn, he collided with Patterson’s vehicle in the intersection.

Prainito would tell police in a hand-written statement, “All I know is the car came out of nowhere and we had impact.”

Prainito’s passenger, Raymond Recchia, says he had just bent down to pick up a file and did not see the actual crash. When police arrived, Recchia was trapped in the car while Prainito was walking around and bleeding from his head according to the police reports.

Police also found Patterson sitting on the roadway “bleeding significantly from the head.” His driver, James Cram, was slumped over the center console and told police he was unable to move his body.

Both vehicles had been on Walton Boulevard in Auburn Hills. Cram’s Chrysler 300 was heading eastbound and traveling at 54 mph a split second before impact, according to the records obtained by Action News. The speed limit is 45.

Prainito was westbound on Walton and turning south onto Opdyke in a light blue 2012 Volkswagen Passat heavily decorated with advertisements. Prainito, a sales manager with CBS Radio, told Police that Bosch had loaned him the vehicle for advertising and exposure purposes for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Police say the signals were working properly and the weather conditions were dry. Rain moved in about 30 minutes after the crash. Alcohol or drugs are not believed to be factors in the collision according to prior statements from investigators.

The police reports say Prainito “screamed to his passenger to hold on just before the impact".

Nobody was wearing a seatbelt except Recchia, although the report notes Patterson’s seatbelt was buckled, but Patterson had "looped the seatbelt behind the seat and secured the buckle".

Prainito has been arraigned in connection with the crash.

Patterson and Cram remain hospitalized.

Recchia is recuperating from a broken pelvis.

A spokesperson for Patterson said he did not know why the seatbelt was looped behind the seat or whether it was typical.

"Please continue to send get well wishes to Brooks and the two others who are victims of a negligent driver," said Bill Mullan, Patterson's media and communications officer.