By J. Patrick Pepper
Times-Herald Newspapers
CLARE COUNTY — Alcohol and high speeds are suspected factors in a fiery snowmobile crash that left a Dearborn Heights man dead Feb. 27.
Clare County Sheriff’s Office officials said James Daniel Barkley was on a snowmobile excursion with friends in Garfield Township, about 90 miles north of Lansing, when he lost control of his sled and careened into a tree.
Barkley, 41, was thrown from the machine before it exploded from the impact, according to eyewitness reports. When paramedics arrived he was unconscious and unresponsive.
Barkley was pronounced dead at a local hospital later that evening.