Anthony Anderson Charged In Wisconsin Truck And Horse-Drawn Buggy Collision That Killed Teen
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A 40-year-old man from Rice Lake has been charged in connection to a truck and horse-drawn buggy collision which killed a Wisconsin teenager.
Anthony Anderson was charged with two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, one count of causing injury while operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and one count of operating a vehicle with prohibited alcohol concentration.
According to the criminal complaint, Anderson called Barron County Dispatch shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, saying he was involved in a car crash with a buggy.
Deputies arrived on the scene at 22nd Street and County Highway M to find what was left of a horse-drawn buggy on the side of the road with debris scattered in the roadway. A large horse was on the east side of the highway, dead.
The 17-year-old driver had been ejected from the buggy and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. He died of his injuries on Feb. 24.
Another occupant of the buggy, a 16-year-old, suffered non-life threatening injuries. The teen said the two were headed home, and that the kerosene-powered lanterns on the side of the buggy were working before the crash, along with a blinking strobe light.
Anderson was taken to a nearby medical center to have his blood drawn after the crash. The criminal complaint says he had a blood-alcohol concentration of .085g/100mL. Two bartenders at the V&M Bar said Anderson had been drinking the night of Feb. 18.
On Friday, the father of the teenagers put a buggy on the same stretch of road where the crash occurred with a blinking strobe light and two lit lanterns. In a recreation of the scene, a deputy said he was able to see the strobe light from at least three-quarters of a mile away.
If convicted on all counts, Anderson could face a prison sentence of up to 92 years.