Officer Involved in Fatal Crash Charged

[7mmMag]

A story from my neck of the woods

Stevens Point Journal - Teen killed in crash with police vehicle
Posted by Agent of Chaos Oct 30, 2007 |

A teenager was killed Monday night when her vehicle was struck by a Portage County Sheriff's Department squad car.

Teen killed in crash with police vehicle

By Jason G. Zencka Journal staff

A teenager was killed Monday night when her vehicle was struck by a Portage County Sheriff’s Department squad car.

A sheriff’s deputy drove through a red light while traveling south through the intersection of Church and Nebel streets around 6:50 p.m., striking the woman’s car.

Stevens Point Police Chief Jeff Morris said the deputy was responding to a call for backup in Plover, where a driver who had struck the wall of a building fled on foot. The deputy’s lights and sirens were on, Morris said.

Officers and rescue workers streamed through the crash scene Monday night. Skid marks smeared the road and glass lay underfoot. At one point, officers and rescue workers formed a circle around the mangled car, holding up blankets to shield it from view.

As of Monday night, police were withholding the name of both the deputy and the deceased.

“Our investigation is just starting,” Morris said as state’ prosecutors milled around the scene of the accident behind him.

The Wisconsin State Patrol will assist in the investigation, Morris said. Although the cause of the accident had yet to be determined, Morris said, preliminary interviews suggest the woman had a green light when her car was struck.

“All you could hear was just the biggest metal crash sound ever,” said Ed Colson, 32, who said he witnessed the crash from his car. “He didn’t brake at all.”

According to Morris, both the deputy involved in the crash and the occupants of a third vehicle sustained minor injuries and were transported to the hospital. The deceased was likely killed on impact, Morris said. She was the sole occupant of her vehicle

. For hours after the accident, residents drove into the parking lot of Walgreens at Church and Nebel, peering over the police cordons that threaded the pharmacy’s parking lot. Teenagers held out cell phones to take pictures of the deceased’s car, which had been covered with tarps.

“I’m just thinking about my kids in Madison,” said Pat Rice, a Stevens Point resident, who drove into the area after the crash. “I just talked to my daughter.”

One onlooker, Nick Wimme, 18, thought he knew the identity of the crash victim, saying he grew up with her.

“Just a fantastic person,” he said, “wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Eddie Maslowski, 9, said he had heard the crash as his mother sat down to dinner.

“She was just getting food onto her plate ... we just heard this big boom.”

This is not the first accident Maslowski has seen near his home. Earlier this year, Cecilia Hoffman, 31, drove into a tree at the Michigan Court cul-de-sac, about a block away from the scene of Monday night’s crash. Hoffman was airlifted to Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, and faces OWI charges later this month.

“This is a horrible intersection,” he said.

[7mmMag]

Deputy Charged In Fatal Crash

01-22-2008

STEVENS POINT -- A sheriff's deputy has been charged with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle after he hit another car, killing a woman.

Portage County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Tschudy faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment after an investigation concluded he failed to slow down before speeding into an intersection October 29th.

The 53-year-old deputy struck the vehicle of 18-year-old Mindy Erickson, who was killed.

Tschudy had been responding to a hit-and-run accident in Plover when he drove through a red light with his emergency lights and sirens activated.

[Aussie George]

An unfortunate reminder to all that when responding to calls of back up, do so with extra care. You are no good if you don't make it there.

As we know, people don't see lights and don't hear sirens. We can not take it for granted that people will see anything but the green traffic light and hear nothing but their car radio.

Prayers and thoughts sent to all involved, the family and friends of both the girl killed and the officer.

[mobrien316]

A cop in a neighboring department was charged with a similar crime after a similar incident. He was responding to back up an officer at a fight and was the second car through an intersection with a red light. A girl at the green light waited for the first cruiser to go through the red light and never saw the second one.

He was found guilty of Negligent Homicide with a Motor Vehicle. He is still a cop in that town.

[7mmMag]

A cop in a neighboring department was charged with a similar crime after a similar incident. He was responding to back up an officer at a fight and was the second car through an intersection with a red light. A girl at the green light waited for the first cruiser to go through the red light and never saw the second one.

He was found guilty of Negligent Homicide with a Motor Vehicle. He is still a cop in that town.

How are you found guilty of a felony and still a cop?

[mobrien316]

How are you found guilty of a felony and still a cop?

In CT, it's a misdemeanor.

Negligent Homicide With a Motor Vehicle

Sec. 14-222a. Negligent homicide with a motor vehicle. Any person who, in consequence of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle, causes the death of another person shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both.