Truck slams into tree in Cass County

CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- A 60-year-old man is in critical condition at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo after his pickup truck struck a tree early Friday morning.

Edward 'Levi' Schoff, 60, was traveling north toward the intersection of Dailey Road and Beeson Road when his Chevy pickup truck struck a tree. A passerby saw the truck just before 7 a.m. and called for help.

Family members say Schoff just turned 60 last week. Schoff works overnight and was coming home from work when the accident happened. They believe he fell asleep at the wheel.

Schoff's brother-in-law works at True's Towing in Dowagiac, where we discovered the totaled truck. He says the towing company got the call to pick up a truck, only to find out it belonged to a family member.

True showed us what was left of the totaled truck and said he let most of his employees go home early.

Rescuers had to cut the truck's roof off to free Schoff and then life-flighted him to the nearest trauma center-Kalamazoo's Borgess Hospital. He is still in critical condition.

According to family, the victim is one of sixteen children: five boys and eleven girls. They said this proves he is a trooper and are hoping for a full recovery.