INTERLOCHEN -- Something didn't look quite right to Ken Walton.
Walton, of the Karlin area, was driving back home from running his dogs shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday when he noticed a van about 30 feet up a private drive on South Betsie River Road. The van's door was open, and Walton could see something underneath it.
Walton turned around, stopped and walked up to the full-size van. There he found Bradley Allen Herzfeld, 47, partially under the vehicle. Herzfeld's leg was pinned under the driver's side front wheel, and he had been there for about 11 hours.
"He was able to talk, but he was in shock and hypothermic," said Walton, who covered Herzfeld with his shirt and coat and called 911.
Herzfeld, of Interlochen, remained in serious condition at Munson Medical Center Wednesday. Police said he stepped out of his van Monday at about 8 p.m. and believed he'd shifted into parking gear. The vehicle instead was in reverse, rolled back and pinned Herzfeld to the driveway.
Herzfeld's leg was bleeding and appeared broken, Walton said. He also endured unseasonably low temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s for much of the night.
Several trees prevent a clear view of the driveway from certain directions, but Walton still wonders how he was the first to find Herzfeld.
"It had been daylight for close to an hour; I don't really know how no one else noticed," he said.
Walton has seen Herzfeld in the area. Police believe he may have been doing work at the property where the incident occurred.
Herzfeld is lucky Walton came along and decided to stop, police said.
"It's very fortunate," Grand Traverse sheriff's Lt. Bryan Marrow said. "(Walton) was in the right place at the right time, he observed something that was out of place and took some action."
Walton's thoughts are focused on Herzfeld.
"I feel sorry for him; I'm glad he's alive," he said. "He must have had a horrible night."
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