Speed, drugs alleged factors in crash that injured six
By Vicky Wedig
Staff Writer
A Wind Lake man is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 27 on six felony charges in connection with a December 2014 crash in the Town of East Troy that injured six people.
Nicholas D. Lecus, 27, was charged Aug. 27 in Walworth County Circuit Court with first-degree reckless injury and five counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Lecus was allegedly driving a Chevrolet Colorado truck west on Highway 20 on Dec. 6, 2014, when he tried to pass a truck in front of him in a no-passing zone and crashed head-on into a car traveling east on Highway 20.
Four people in the eastbound Toyota Corolla – Joseph A. Larson and James Stenson and his then 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son – were injured, according to the complaint. Larson was hospitalized for 16 days and underwent surgery for injuries that included a broken leg, broken arm, fractured vertebrae, facial fractures, an open fracture of his left elbow and bleeding on his brain, according to the complaint.
The 6-year-old girl was hospitalized for a few days and underwent surgery for two broken bones in her leg, according to the complaint.
Two people in the truck in front of the truck Lecus was driving – his friend, Nicholas Zingale, and a passenger, Alexander Hornack – were also injured, according to the complaint.
When police went to Froedtert Hospital on Dec. 6 to speak with Zingale and Hornack, Zingale was in a neck brace, had a large facial cut and his right leg was immobilized, according to the complaint. Hornack was unconscious, but police later learned his injuries were not life-threatening, according to the complaint.
Crash data retrieved from the truck Lecus was driving revealed the truck was traveling 89 mph five seconds before the crash and 91 mph one second before impact and didn’t brake, according to the complaint.
Blood drawn from Lecus tested positive for opiates and morphine, according to the complaint.
