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Addict
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This is a perfect example of why a teenage drunk driver should held just as accountable as an adult:
Quote:
Driver, 16, drank before fatal crash, police told
Five killed in Washington County collision
By DON BEHM
dbehm@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 26, 2005
Town of Trenton - The 16-year-old driver who caused a deadly chain of collisions Thursday on Highway 33 east of West Bend had been drinking beer earlier in the evening at an Ozaukee County park, a witness told investigators.
The teenage driver, Timothy S. Beck, and four others - all Washington County residents- died at the scene.
Beck, of West Bend, was driving a Ford Taurus westbound on the highway at estimated speeds in excess of 80 mph before his car rear-ended another westbound Taurus at 8:30 p.m. near Trenton Town Hall, authorities said Friday.
Tire skid marks on the pavement indicate that Beck attempted to slow his car before impact, Sheriff Brian Rahn said.
The driver of the other Taurus, Toby Ankebrant, 18, also of West Bend, told investigators that he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw Beck's car "approaching at a high rate of speed," Rahn said.
After striking Ankebrant's Taurus, Beck's car spun out of control, crossed the center line and collided head-on with an eastbound Ford Crown Victoria driven by Karl Bretschneider, 86, a former Newburg fire chief. Bretschneider and his wife, Lavera, 79, were killed in the collision.
Two of three passengers in Beck's car were killed - Michael Terrien, 18, and Aaron Buchanan, 25, both of West Bend.
Andrew Clark, 16, of West Bend was a passenger in Beck's car. He was wearing a seat belt and survived the crash. Clark was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital near West Bend. He later was taken by helicopter to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa. His condition was not available Friday night.
Clark told investigators that he, Beck and the other passengers were returning to West Bend from playing disc golf at Tendick Nature Park in the Town of Saukville in Ozaukee County. The four had been drinking beer while at the park, Clark said in a statement to investigators.
Beer cans also were found near the Beck vehicle following the collision, Rahn said.
Toxicology reports on Beck, including results of blood tests for alcohol, might be available in two weeks, the sheriff said.
Beck was driving in violation of his Wisconsin graduated driver's license, Rahn said. At age 16, a license restriction prohibited Beck from carrying any passengers other than his immediate family.
A detailed reconstruction of the accident might be completed in a week, Rahn said.
The pavement was dry at the time and weather was not a factor, according to an accident report released Friday.
According to the report, Ankebrant regained control of his car after it was struck from behind and stopped at Poplar Road.
Both cars in the head-on crash spun out of control, the report says. A second eastbound vehicle driven by Andrea Conradt, 20, of Port Washington then collided with the car driven by Beck.
Conradt said she stopped her Ford Explorer on the shoulder of the highway, east of the collision, and walked back toward the Bretschneider car. Seconds later, the Explorer was struck by a third eastbound vehicle, a GMC Envoy driven by Stephen Stockwell, 66, of Grafton.
Conradt was treated for minor injuries at the scene and released. Stockwell was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Conradt said in an interview that the Beck and Bretschneider vehicles appeared to bounce off each other after they collided.
"It was horrible," she said. "The front ends were just smashed so bad."
She tried to help the older couple, but, "Once I saw the elderly man, I knew there was nothing I could do."
Conradt, the diving coach on the Port Washington High School girls swimming team, said she was returning home after a swimming meet earlier that night at West Bend West High School. She had followed the Bretschneider car for several miles and said it was going about 55 mph, which is the speed limit on that stretch of two-lane Highway 33.
The Bretschneiders were returning home from Marshfield, a family member said.
Stockwell was unavailable for comment.
Noreen Merkel, who lives next door to the Trenton Town Hall on Highway 33 near the crash site, said emergency vehicles remained at the scene until early Friday morning.
"There were lights flashing and sirens going off until 4 a.m.," she said.
Both Beck and Terrien were students at West Bend East High School. Beck would have been a junior and Terrien would have been a senior when classes resume Sept. 6.
The high school will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to students in need of counseling, said Principal Cassandra Schug. The school also arranged for a moment of silence for the crash victims before Friday night's football game against Kewaskum High School.
"To lose a student is such a tragedy and our deepest sympathy is with the families of Michael and Tim," Schug said.
By Friday morning, most evidence of the chain-reaction crashes had been removed and impromptu memorials were being created on the side of the highway. Area residents stopped at the site throughout the day.
Two dozen red and white roses were placed near a gold record made of cardboard. Messages about each of the three West Bend residents had been written on its face, along with the epitaph: "Rust in Peace."
Reece LaPlant, 32, of Port Washington said he had known Buchanan for several years as both played in the local rock band known as Fade.
"He was one of the biggest-hearted, kindest people that there was," LaPlant said about Buchanan. "He was 25, and it was way too young for him to be taken out."
LaPlant said a benefit concert with seven local bands is scheduled Oct. 8 to help pay for Buchanan's funeral expenses. The concert will begin at 6 p.m. that evening at Willie's Lakefront Lanes, 119 E. Main St., Port Washington.
Heather Spaeth of Hartford said that she had dropped Buchanan off at his residence Thursday afternoon so he could play disc golf with Beck and Terrien.
"They went Frisbee golfing because he just needed something to do," said Spaeth, 19. She identified herself as a former girlfriend of Buchanan.
The Beck and Terrien families declined to comment on the crash.
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http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/aug05/351143.asp
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A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin
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