By Alexandrea Dahlstrom
Staff Writer
A 43-year-old Elkhorn man died Friday after the car he was driving on Highway 50 in Delavan collided with another vehicle in front of Lake Lawn Resort.
Brad L. Zimmerman was taken to Mercy Walworth Hospital and Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Zimmerman’s vehicle veered left of the centerline into the opposite lane and collided with a car driven by Jesus D. Aranda, 46, of Lake Geneva, according to a police report.
Aranda’s four children were passengers in the vehicle he was driving. Flight for Life flew one of them, Nancy, to a hospital for her injuries. Her condition was not known at press time. Aranda and his other children were treated at the scene or taken to the hospital.
Witnesses say they observed Zimmerman driving erratically before the crash. Todd Brunner, an acquaintance of Zimmerman, told police he was following Zimmerman after helping him change a flat tire from the night before. Brunner said Zimmerman had trouble grabbing the jack out of the trunk during the tire change and kept turning the lug nut to the point that Brunner had to tell him that it was off. He also noticed that on the day of the accident Zimmerman seemed to lack energy and was sweating profusely. A blood sample was to be taken at the autopsy and it is unknown at this time if Zimmerman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the police report.
Crash knocks down pole
The crash was the second Delavan police responded to last week.
Another accident Sept. 12 knocked down a traffic signal causing $4,000 damage to city property and caused $1,000 damage to a retaining wall at Wendy’s restaurant.
In that crash, Francis S. Camancho, of Delavan, was driving east on East Geneva Street on Sept. 12 when he failed to yield to a car traveling west on East Geneva Street, according to a police report. Camancho was turning left onto South Wright Street from East Geneva Street and said he did not see the car driven by Jean V. Jarosv, of Delavan, traveling west.
The car Camancho was driving struck the passenger side of the car Jarosv was driving. Mary K. Wells, of Delavan, was a passenger in Camancho’s car.
Jarvosv swerved to avoid Camancho and clipped the traffic light, causing it to fall on Jarvosz’s car, and Camancho hit the retaining wall at Wendy’s Restaurant.
No one was taken to the hospital.
