51-year-old Darren Ward of Salem is facing one count of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. This, after he allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian while under the influence of an intoxicant.
According to the criminal complaint, Ward, who was traveling on a motorcycle, collided with Dianne Dooley while she was crossing State Highway 50 Tuesday night, April 30th. Dooley was pronounced dead at the scene.
read more here > Salem man charged, accused of striking pedestrian | FOX6Now.com.
A local bishop faces a tentative charge of homicide by intoxicated driving after a crash Sunday that killed a 52-year-old woman, according to Sun Prairie police and a local pastor.
Bruce H. Burnside, 59, of Madison, was arrested after he allegedly hit a female pedestrian at the northbound off-ramp of Highway 151 at Windsor Street in Sun Prairie. The crash happened at 2:48 p.m., said Sun Prairie police Lt. Linda Anderson.
The victim was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s emergency room in Sun Prairie, where she later died, Anderson said. She has been identified as Maureen F. Mengelt, 52, of Sun Prairie.
Rev. David Berggren of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sun Prairie confirmed Sunday evening that Burnside is bishop for the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Burnside, a former pastor at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Monona, was elected bishop in 2007. He is up for re-election in May, Berggren added.
The South-Central Synod of Wisconsin presides over 145 Lutheran congregations.
“We’re all in shock. He was en route to a meeting at our church,” Berggren said.
Burnside was found by police in his vehicle near the crash location before he was arrested and taken to Dane County Jail, Anderson said.
via Bishop arrested for alleged homicide by intoxicated driving – Leader-Telegram: Daily Updates.
Two men were killed early Sunday morning after their car was struck broadside by an alleged drunk driver who, police say, ran a stop sign at the corner of North Ninth and Huron streets.
According to the Manitowoc Police Department:
A 23-year-old Manitowoc man and a 24-year old Two Rivers man were pronounced dead at the scene after their 1992 Chevrolet was T-boned by a red Cadillac. A third passenger in the Chevrolet, a 21-year-old Newton man, was flown to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay with serious injuries.
The third passenger’s condition is unknown, police Capt. Larry Zimney said.
The driver of the Cadillac was intoxicated and traveling at a high rate of speed, according to police
Two passengers in the Cadillac were taken to Aurora Medical Center of Two Rivers and a third was taken to Holy Family Memorial Medical Center. All three passengers in the Cadillac were treated and released, Zimney said. The driver was not injured.
When police responded to the scene at about 2:45 a.m., the Cadillac was overturned on its roof and the Chevrolet was in a yard at 801 N. Ninth St.
The driver of the Cadillac was arrested and taken to Manitowoc County Jail on these tentative charges, Zimney said: two counts of homicide by alleged intoxicated use of a vehicle, one count of causing great bodily harm by intoxicated use of a vehicle and three counts of causing injury by operating a motor vehicle while under the influence.
An 80-year-old Oshkosh man was killed and another Oshkosh man was cited for drunken driving following a head-on crash Saturday on County I in the Winnebago County Town of Nekimi.
Lt. Lara Vendola-Messer of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said the cause of the crash that killed Robert Zentner, who was driving south on County I just north of County N, remains under investigation pending a crash reconstruction and toxicology testing.
Zentner was extricated from the vehicle after the 5:10 p.m. crash and transported to Mercy Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. A passenger in his car, Phyllis Zentner, 81, also of Oshkosh, was transported to the hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.
The driver of the northbound vehicle, William Doemel, 57, who was transported to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, for injuries that were not life-threatening, was cited for second-offense drunken driving.
via Oshkosh man, 80, killed; driver cited for OWI | Appleton Post-Crescent | postcrescent.com.
The Marinette County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of those involved in Friday’s fatal crash in the Town of Middle Inlet. Christopher Croley, 13, of Ishpeming died while en route to the hospital following the two-car crash. His mother, Jodi Betts Croley, 44, and two sisters, Taylor Croley, 17, and Gabrielle Croley, 16, were transferred to a Green Bay Hospital with serious injuries. Their conditions are unknown at this time. The south bound Chevy Impala driven by Jodi Croley on Highway 141 in the Town of Middle Inlet was struck head on by a northbound pickup truck. The driver of the pickup, Timothy C. Christ, 28, of Wausaukee, Wisc., was arrested and lodged in the Marinette County Jail on felony charges of causing death and great bodily injury harm by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, police said. Christ was not injured in the crash and was alone in his vehicle
On Sunday, 09/23/12 at 1833 hours, deputies from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, along with Police, Fire and EMS personnel from the Village of Orfordville, responded to a one-vehicle rollover crash on S. STH 213, approximately .2 north of W. Lang Road in the Town of Spring Valley. Dispatch advised a utility pole was struck and power lines were draped over the vehicle, which was smoking in the ditch.
On arrival at the scene, deputies found a beige, 1997 Buick LeSabre on it’s driver’s side, with the driver, Sean M. Waterman, age 32, of Brodhead, partially ejected and pinned underneath the roof of the vehicle. The passenger, Douglas W. Axelson, age 26, of Brodhead, was trapped in the passenger seat of the vehicle, with his seatbelt fastened.
The investigation shows Waterman’s vehicle had been traveling northbound on S. STH 213 at a high rate of speed when he lost control at a curve in the road. The vehicle entered the east shoulder, struck a raised driveway, and went airborne. The vehicle then impacted a utility pole and a sign marking the curve in the road, rolled over, and came to rest in the ditch.
Rock County Deputy Coroner Don Robinson arrived on scene and pronounced Axelson dead at 2100 hours. Axelson’s body was transported to the morgue at Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center in Janesville, pending an autopsy at the Dane County Morgue in Madison on 09/24/12.
Waterman was airlifted to Rockford Memorial Hospital via REACT helicopter, where he was admitted and listed in critical but stable condition with severe pelvic injuries. Waterman was arrested for Homicide by Intoxicated Use of a Motor Vehicle, Operating After Revocation Causing Death, 3rd Offense OWI, Open Intoxicants in a Motor Vehicle, Failure to Maintain Control of Vehicle and Failure to Fasten Seatbelt.
read more here > UPDATE: Drunk Driver Charged After Deadly Crash.
Gerald Larson
Gerald D. Larson said he had three beers before being involved in a Sept. 8 crash in the town of Eagle Point that killed his wife, another woman and severely injured several others.
Larson, 67, of 3004 11th St., Eau Claire, faces two counts of homicide by an intoxicated use of a vehicle for the deaths of Karen E. Larson and Lori K. Barger of Altoona.
The crash happened at 9:27 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Highway 124 and County B.
Larson appeared in Chippewa County Circuit Court on Thursday, where his preliminary hearing was set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9 before Judge Roderick Cameron.
He also is accused of seven counts of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and was arrested for OWI.
Injured in Larson’s vehicle were: Douglas E. Kopp, 53, of Pigeon Falls; Elizabeth A. Kopp, 50, of Pigeon Falls; and Jodi A. Martens, 43, of Eau Claire.
“As of today’s date, Sept. 12, three people from Gerald Larson’s vehicle, Elizabeth Kopp, Douglas Kopp and Jodi Martens, remain in hospital in serious condition,” the criminal complaint said.
read more here > Complaint: Driver in fatal crash had 3 beers.
An Eden couple was killed and their 13-year-old daughter was seriously injured when their car was struck by a driver officers say was drinking prior to the crash.
Paul F. Grahl, 73, and Joanna M. Grahl, 59, both of the town of Eden, were killed in the head-on crash on Highway 45 near Sandy Road about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office report.
The couple’s daughter, Esther Grahl, was taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with serious injuries, according to the report.
The accident occurred about ½-mile from Sandy Road in the town of Auburn. The driver of the southbound vehicle, a 24-year-old Campbellsport man, crossed the center line of Highway 45 and collided with the Grahl vehicle, according to the report.
The Grahls were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the southbound vehicle sustained serious injuries and was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend.
He has since been released from the hospital and is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and causing injury by intoxicated use, said Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dean Will.
The Reporter will name the Campbellsport man after he makes an initial court appearance.
“We believe alcohol may be a contributing factor in the crash on the part of the southbound driver,” Will said from the scene Thursday night.
via Eden couple killed in head-on crash | Fond du Lac Reporter | fdlreporter.com.
Tina Trepanier
A drunk driver who allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian in Oshkosh late last week was in Winnebago County Court Wednesday.
Police say 45-year-old Tina Trepanier had a blood alcohol level of .159, nearly twice the legal limit to drive during the time of the incident.
Shortly before bar close on Friday, September 7th, a witness says they saw the victim, Gina Micheln, sitting in the middle of Ohio Street near 8th Avenue.
An SUV, driven by Trepanier, was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck Micheln and dragged her under the vehicle for a block.
A second vehicle then struck Micheln. They slowed down and then drove off.
Oshkosh police are still looking for the second vehicle, which is described as a white SUV, Ford Explorer or Expedition type vehicle.
Trepanier has one OWI conviction on her driving record.
No formal charges have been filed yet. Bail was set at $10,000 cash.
Officer Joshua Albert
A Milwaukee police officer has been hospitalized after being hit by a wrong-way driver.
Officer Joshua Albert is in Froedtert Hospital in critical condition. The driver who hit him is also in critical condition.
It’s a series of events that are hard to believe, but it happens more than you might think.
Shawn Green was startled by what he saw and heard just after midnight Wednesday. “I just saw a lot of emergency vehicles, I heard a big accident.” said Green to TODAY’S TMJ4.
Erin Salmon
Police say 23-year-old Erin Salmon was driving the wrong way on I-94 when she hit officer Joshua Albert head-on on his way home from work.
A drunk driver from Port Washington was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for hitting an elderly pedestrian and driving away. 54-year-old Kevin Brown must also spend six years under extended supervision when he leaves prison – and he has to maintain absolute sobriety the entire time.
Brown pleaded no contest in June to hit-and-run and causing injury by drunk driving. His vehicle struck 82-year-old Dolores Kopacz last December while she was walking on a rural road in Ozaukee County. He never stopped to help, and was arrested seven hours later at his job in Sheboygan. By that time, Brown’s blood alcohol level was still more than twice the legal limit of point-zero-eight.
Kopacz died from cancer last weekend. But Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Paul Malloy said she would have died from the crash had another motorist not stopped to help. As it was, she had fractures to a leg, shoulder, and hip – plus numerous other injuries.
via Drunk Driver Sentenced In Hit And Run – 1330 WHBL Sheboygan’s News Radio.
Travis Simon, 19, of Edgerton and Jose Emmanuel Ocelotl, 18, of Janesville, were killed when the car driven by Simon rolled over in the 5200 block of West Mineral Point Road shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday. Simon and Ocelot, a front-seat passenger, were not wearing seat belts and were ejected from the vehicle. Three other passengers were treated and released with what authorities said were non-life threatening injuries.
via Alcohol a factor in three fatalities near Janesville — GazetteXtra.
Information from Rock County Sheriff’s Office:
On 08-18-12 at 10:22 pm Deputies from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office and the Janesville Fire Department responded to a two vehicle crash at Hwy 11 just west of Janesville.
Deputies began arriving on scene at 10:30 pm and noticed a white Chevy Impala sitting in the intersection with flames coming from the engine compartment. The second vehicle, a silver Kia Optima was east of the intersection on the north side of the road. Janesville Fire arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. The driver of Impala was extricated from the vehicle and transported to UW Hospital in Madison by Med Flight.
The second vehicle was occupied by four subjects three of which were transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Janesville. The fourth subject was pronounced dead at the scene by the Rock County Coroner’s Office.
The preliminary investigation shows that the Impala, operated by Tara Carlson, 39 from Janesville, was heading northbound on W. STH 11 and failed to stop at a stop sign. After going through the stop sign, the Impala impacted the Kia that was operated by Randall J. Owens, a 64 year old from Footville. The other surviving occupants of the Kia were identified as Ellen R. Owens, a 56 year old from Footville, and Ruth A. Coyle, a 57 year old female from Chicago, IL. The subject that was pronounced deceased at the scene has been identified as James M. Menard, a 64 year old from Chicago.
The Rock County Sheriff’s Office reconstruction team was called to the scene to assist with the traffic crash investigation. Though the accident remains under investigation, Tara Carlson has been arrested for 1 count of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle and 3 counts of causing injury by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. Mr. and Mrs. Owens along with Coyle were all treated and released from Mercy Hospital.
via One Killed, Janesvillle Woman Arrested In Drunk-Driving Crash.
Janesville Police turned a man over to a sober woman after they couldn’t arrest him for drunk driving Monday morning. Three hours later he crashed his car into a tree and died.
According to Janesville Police reports an officer saw a vehicle go speeding down Court Street just after 1 am Monday. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 miles an hour,” says Capt. Dan Davis of the Janesville P.D.
The driver was 29 year old Jason Stacy of rural Rock County. Officer Jeremy Dewitt pulled him over at this gas station. “The officer reports seeing no signs of intoxication or physical impairment,” says Davis.
But Stacy admits to drinking earlier in the evening and was asked to take a field sobriety test. He passed all three tests. Still not satisfied Officer Dewitt gives Jason Stacy a portable breathalyzer test. “The test result was .12,” says Davis.
But that’s not enough for an arrest. “The PBT results, in and of themselves, do not constitute probable cause to make an arrest,” says Davis.
The officer convinces Stacy to get a ride home. They go to a nearby bar where a friend’s wife agrees to drive them home. “She agreed to take responsibility for Mr. Stacy. So (Officer Dewitt) turned him over to her,” says Davis.
Jason Stacy is issued two tickets and released. At 3:45 am he crashes his car on County K south of Orfordville, just a couple miles from his home.
Jason Stacy’s vehicle crossed over the centerline and hit a tree. Investigators say he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected. His body was thrown 50 feet into the woods.
“We suspect from the initial investigation that speed, possibly alcohol was a factor,” says Lt. Gary Groelle of the Rock County Sheriff’s Department.
Capt Davis says Officer Dewitt did everything he legally could to keep Jason Stacy off the roads. “What transpired in that 2.5 hours we don’t know. But clearly at some point Mr. Stacy chose to return to his vehicle and at some point he chose to drive.”
The Rock County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the crash. They’re still looking to interview the woman to whom Jason Stacy was turned over just to find out how and when he got back in his car.
It will be another week before we know Stacy’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crash.
via Police Can’t Arrest Man For DUI, He Dies In Fatal Crash Hours Later.
No one was screaming for ice cream at almost 2 am when police arrested “the ice cream man” for driving his frozen treat truck while intoxicated.
According to a written report from the Mount Pleasant Police Department, officers were dispatched at 1:56 am Monday to the Regency Hills neighborhood because of blaring ice cream truck music.
When police arrived, they discovered an ice cream truck in the middle of the street in the 5600 block of Regency Hills Drive. Officers asked Albert A. Amaya, 57, of Racine, what he was doing and he reportedly told them he was selling ice cream.
via ‘Ice Cream Man’ Cited for OWI – Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant, WI Patch.
