Warren Flagg was raking leaves outside his Beck Road home in Plymouth Township four years ago when a driver struck and killed him, then fled the scene without stopping. The 76-year-old was working on his property just north of Powell Road when the crash happened, and to this day, police have not identified who was behind the wheel.
Flagg’s daughter, Elizabeth Crawford, says she spoke with him just moments before the crash, and he told her he was finishing up for the day. “she spoke with flagg moments before the crash and he said he was finishing for the day,” according to the dossier's record of her account. Crawford has also said the driver’s decision to leave the scene is what turned a tragic accident into a crime. The case was first reported in detail by ClickOnDetroit, which noted the crash happened around 7 p.m. on October 30, 2022, on Beck Road between Powell and North Territorial roads.
Flagg’s family says he was survived by three great-grandchildren he never met, a detail that underscores how much time has passed without resolution. Kathleen Adams, a family member, described him as dependable, funny, and kind, and said the family wants answers and accountability. The Flagg family asked anyone with information to come forward, hoping someone in the community still remembers something useful.
A Gray Pontiac Solstice and a Years-Old Trail
Investigators have said the vehicle involved was a gray 2007-2010 Pontiac Solstice GXP with damage to the front passenger side, a description police say they built from scene evidence and witness statements. Earlier reporting on the case had described the suspected vehicle only as a 2007-2010 Pontiac Solstice with unknown color, according to ClickOnDetroit’s initial coverage of the case. Adams has urged the public to think back on anyone they know who abruptly stopped driving a Pontiac Solstice or who started hunting for rides or replacement parts around the time of the crash.
Plymouth Township Police Chief James Knittel was involved in the investigation and spoke at a 2023 press conference. The police department has said it is working with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office cold case unit, and has also collaborated with Homeland Security Investigations on potential leads.
Rewards Have Grown, But the Trail Has Stayed Cold
Money has been offered for information from early on in the investigation. In November 2022, ClickOnDetroit reported that Sure Conveyors was offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. By the following spring, more than five months after the crash, the driver’s identity was still unknown, according to the same outlet's report. Around that same time, Crime Stoppers of Michigan held a press conference announcing a $2,500 reward for tips leading to an arrest, as Plymouth Voice reported. Combined reward funds connected to the case now total $36,000.
A passing motorist who stopped to help Flagg the night of the crash applied a tourniquet to his badly injured leg and then drove his wife, Julia, to the hospital, according to a Hometownlife account of that night. The outlet’s report also captured how Flagg’s family described him in the days after his death, remembering him as larger-than-life. FOX 2 Detroit reported at the time that the family was asking anyone with information to come forward, especially the driver.
Anyone with information about the Pontiac Solstice or the driver involved is asked to contact Plymouth Township Police at (734) 354-3232. In 2022 and 2023, Flagg’s family asked for public help identifying the driver after losing him outside the home where he’d simply gone out to finish his yard work for the day.
