WITTMANN, Ariz — The Department of Public Safety has identified the wrong-way driver who caused a crash Friday night that killed the driver and four others.
The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on the westbound lane of US-60 near Morristown, about 55 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Investigators said the crash involved a wrong-way driver and another car. A total of five people were killed.
A man, later identified as 37-year-old Michael Glen Sytsma of Cave Creek, was traveling east in a white 2005 Nissan Titan pickup truck in the westbound lane, reportedly without headlights on. The pickup hit a silver 2020 Chevrolet SUV head on, DPS troopers said..
The impact caused the SUV to catch fire and became engulfed in flames, investigators said. Sytsma was the only person in the truck and four people were in the SUV at the time of the crash.
Everyone involved in the crash died, DPS troopers said.
Due to the fire, the remains were difficult to immediately identify and the medical examiner is working to identify the victims and contact next-of-kin.
Investigators are awaiting the toxicology report on Sytsma to determine if he was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The number of deadly wrong-way crashes nationwide and in Arizona trended in the wrong direction, according to data released by AAA shows in March.
Arizona is nearly two times worse than the national increase for change in the average number of deaths when it comes to wrong-way crashes.