Northport Woman Killed In Division Street Crash

An 88-year-old Northport woman was killed following a crash that occurred on Division Street Sunday.

Mabeth Putnam was alone in her car when she attempted to cross Division eastbound at Eleventh Street and was sideswiped by an SUV driven by a 66-year-old Suttons Bay woman, says Traverse City Police Department Capt. Jim Bussell. The force of that crash pushed Putnam’s car into the northbound lane, where a van driven by a 38-year-old Indiana man crashed into the driver’s side door of Putnam’s car.

Bussell says investigators were unsure whether Putnam died of injuries she suffered in the crash or if she experienced an unrelated medical emergency prior to the crash, which happened at 1:22pm. An autopsy was scheduled Monday. Division was closed for hours as Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s crash re-constructors helped investigate.