Arrest in triple-fatal wreck; no bond

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - The man who authorities say admitted to drinking before a Tuesday evening crash that left three people dead has been officially charged.

David Glen Johnson, 32, of Covert was arraigned Friday on 11 charges:

• Three counts of second-degree murder
• Three counts of operating while intoxicated causing death
• Three counts of operation while license suspended causing death
• One count of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury
• One county of operating while license suspended causing serious injury

A magistrate denied Johnson bond, so he remains lodged in the Van Buren County Jail in Paw Paw.

Johnson was behind the wheel of a Ford F-150 Tuesday evening when he sped up to pass an Oldsmobile Alero and crossed the center line of County Road 388 near South Haven into oncoming traffic.

The truck hit a Pontiac Grand Prix head-on and then struck the Alero. Grand Prix passengers 24-year-old Brittney King, 2-year-old Kandice Berryhill and 4-year-old Cassadi Berryhill were killed.

The little girls' father Justin Berryhill, 24, was also seriously injured in the crash. The driver of the Alero was not hurt.

Johnson allegedly told deputies on the scene he had been drinking. They said he smelled of alcohol.

He sustained broken bones and several lacerations in the three-vehicle wreck and was hospitalized.

Johnson was arrested Friday around 3 p.m. immediately upon his release from Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo. An hour later, he was in a South Haven courtroom.

He was also arraigned on a felony warrant out of Covert for larceny by conversion. Bond for that charge was set at 10% cash or surety of $5,000.

Johnson is expected back in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 28.