Everything we know so far about the crash in Warren that killed two friends and injured two officers

WARREN, Mich. – Two best friends are dead and two police officers are seriously injured in a crash early Monday morning in Warren. Since the crash, many questions remain unanswered.

Crash details

The accident occurred around 5 a.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024, on Schoenherr Road, south of Toepfer Road – north of 8 Mile Road.

According to authorities, two officers were in a marked patrol car when they collided with a white Dodge Durango.

Based on the debris, it appears the front of the police SUV hit the Durango. The Durango ended up going off the road on its side.

2 men killed, 2 officers seriously injured

The two men in the Durango – Cedric Hayden and DeJuan Pettis – died in the crash.

According to police, one of the men was pronounced dead at the scene. The other man was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.

Family members said Hayden and Pettis were lifelong best friends. They were very well known and popular in the area.

One officer was critically injured and had to be extricated by the Warren Fire Department. He underwent surgery at a nearby hospital on Monday afternoon.

The other officer is also in critical condition. He is undergoing a medical examination.

Officials said both had “many broken bones.”

Where did the officers go?

Gajewski said the officers were not involved in a chase at the time of the crash.

“This was not a vehicle pursuit,” Gajewski said. “We are convinced of that.”

He would not confirm or deny whether they had lights or sirens on when they hit the Durango.

“Obviously it was a car accident,” Gajewski said. “The officers were clearly driving. What they did, where they went, what they did – I don't want to comment on that. I don't want to speculate. It’s still too early and since they’re having surgery, I obviously haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet.”

You can hear Gajewski's full comments in this video:

Emotional accident scene

Hayden and Pettis were turning onto their street at the time of the accident, Local 4 has learned.

More than seven hours later, there was still a crowd near the scene of the accident while police reported on the matter.

It was an emotionally charged situation. Additional officers were called to keep the situation under control. Cooler heads seem to have prevailed.

A business owner near the scene showed Local 4 a video of the crash but was hesitant about releasing it to the public because it was too graphic and the Verizon outage prevented him from sharing the video.

Connection to burglary?

Gajewski addressed the possibility that the officers involved in the crash were responding to a sighting of a stolen car.

Later Monday morning, a break-in occurred at a gas station in Warren, leading to a chase.

“I can tell you that there is information about a burglary or a stolen vehicle or some other police pursuit, and I want to make one thing very clear: There was a vehicle pursuit related to a burglary,” Gajewski said. “It occurred two hours after this unfortunate accident. We know that these burglary suspects have nothing to do with the accident. We know the occupants of the white Dodge Durango were not the same suspects we were pursuing for the burglary.”

Independent investigation

Warren police have asked the Macomb County Sheriff's Office to conduct an independent investigation into the accident.

“We owe it to everyone here to make sure that the correct information is obtained and that there are no allegations of bias or anything like that,” Gajewski said. “The independent investigation has been launched. The sheriff’s department is here on scene.”

He said it was a large crime scene so the investigation would take some time.

Several questions unanswered

There are still some questions that have not been officially answered.

Here are some things we don't know about this case:

• Who was to blame for the crash?

• How fast were the cars traveling at the time of the accident?

• Were the officers actually trying to track down a stolen car?

  • If so, what charges did the car thief face?

  • If so, under what circumstances was the car stolen?

• Was there a connection between the break-in and what the officers were doing at the time of the accident?

• Were there any verbal or physical altercations between the police and the crowd at the scene?