May 16, 2017 – Washington Co., WI – Over the past weekend the Washington County Sheriff’s Office investigated two separate crashes that resulted in vehicles becoming partially submerged in waterways throughout the county. The accidents occurred within four hours of one another on Sunday, May 14 between 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
The first accident occurred on Jay Road east of Cty Tk XX in the Town of Farmington. A passerby reported a darker vehicle partially submerged in high water with the lights on. The driver of that vehicle, later identified as a 40-year-old Town of Farmington, man had left the scene on foot and failed to notify authorities. He was not hurt.
The man walked about three miles home where deputies made contact with him. The man told deputies he had swerved to miss a raccoon. Enforcement action is pending on that crash.
The second accident occurred at the intersection of CTH K and STH 144 in the Town of Polk at 4:32 a.m. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area after a neighbor reported hearing a crash.
The deputy located a vehicle partially submerged in 3 to 4 feet of water about 30 feet from shore. The driver was out of the vehicle and had minor facial lacerations.
The driver, a 26-year-old City of West Bend man, was on his way home east bound on CTH K and did not see the stop sign.
The driver was placed through sobriety testing and the investigating officer noted alcohol use, but not impairment.
The operator will be issued citations for 4th offense operation without a license and failure to stop for stop sign.
The pier owner was contacted and advised that he recently had the damaged pier fixed at a cost of $10,000. He believes this damage is more substantial than the previous repair.