Mosinee suspect was drunk and fled crash, troopers say

Authorities say a Mosinee man, involved in a two car motor vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 41 in Appleton, tried to escape responsibility for the crash by fleeing.

Wisconsin State Patrol thinks the driver who caused the accident, later tracked to a nearby gas station and arrested by troopers, was fearful and drunk when he left the crash scene.

State troopers received a call from the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department about a driver headed the wrong way on U.S. 41. The inter-agency call for help occurred around 10:30 p.m., too late for troopers to respond effectively. Four minutes after the communication, the wrong-way driver had a near fatal car accident in the northbound lanes of Highway 41 near College Avenue.

Troopers say the drunk driver, a 33-year-old Mosinee man, smashed head-on into a vehicle occupied by two people. The driver of the northbound car, a 32-year-old Appleton man, and his male passenger, a 31-year-old Oshkosh resident, were injured. The wrong-way driver suffered minor injuries but left the accident scene. Reports did not indicate whether the driver sped away in the damaged vehicle or fled on foot from the straight-on accident.

Emergency medical personnel transported the accident victims from the northbound vehicle to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah. The Oshkosh passenger suffered the most severe injuries and was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Milwaukee. Responders reported that the driver of the struck car had injuries that were not life-threatening. The victim’s medical condition was not stated.

Details about the arrest of the Mosinee suspect were unclear in published reports. No report of an on-site alcohol breathalyzer test or police observations at the time of the arrest were published.

Police arrested the suspect on suspicion of drunk driving and causing great bodily harm. Charges against the wrong way driver were not formalized at the time of the initial police and media report.

Source: postcrescent.com, “Appleton, Mosinee, Oshkosh men injured in US Highway 41 crash,” March 29, 2012