It was supposed to be just another day at work in a busy holiday season for Edmund Hillman of New Buffalo. He was doing another tour of duty as a bus driver for his team at Four Winds Casino at New Buffalo. Something went tragically wrong shortly before 10am this morning when Hillman’s bright red 2015 Coach Bus bearing the Four Winds Casino logos careened off the roadway in New Buffalo Township and came to rest alongside a tree.
Fortunately, there were no passengers aboard the casino bus at the time of the wreck, pegged at 9:46am by Berrien County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers. The 65-year old Hillman was found dead at the wheel, with no immediate known cause for the crash.
The Berrien County rescue workers responding to the crash were replaced by the Berrien County Accident Investigation Team, charged with the task of determining what went wrong aboard the bus to cause the crash and work with wrecker crews who winched the bus back to the road surface in order to haul it away.
The crash occurred along Maudlin Road near the Four Winds Casino, and it remains under investigation as to what might have caused the accident. Police say there were no skid marks on the pavement, and weather conditions did not appear to be a factor in the crash either.
Family and friends are mourning the loss of Hillman as the investigation continues, to determine if he had sustained a medical issue or other problem at the wheel.
