DARLINGTON - For the second time in two days, a car crash in Willow Springs Township left one person dead and another injured 4 miles north of Darlington.
Howard E. Detra Jr., 69, South Wayne, was killed after colliding with Jean A. Cleary, 83, Darlington, at the intersection of Wisconsin 23 and Shortcut Road shortly before 3:35 p.m. Wednesday.
Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill said reconstruction of the scene is still being finalized by Wisconsin State Patrol, so the cause of the crash is still unknown, but he did identify the accident as a side impact collision.
Detra was traveling north on Wis. 23 when his 2005 Ford Explorer collided with Cleary's 2002 Chevy Cavalier, which she was driving east on Shortcut Road. Following the crash, both vehicles kept moving and the Explorer overturned in the northeast ditch, resting on its roof. Gill said Detra had to be extricated from the vehicle by Darlington Fire with the use of hydraulic cutting tools commonly referred to as the Jaws of Life.
Though an attempt was made to transport him via Med Flight or Air Care of Dubuque, neither helicopter could fly due to weather conditions. Detra was instead taken by Rural Medical Ambulance Service to the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County where he later died as a result of his injuries.
Cleary was also taken to the hospital but for minor injuries such as bruising, Gill said. She was released later that day.
"She's an 83-year-old woman, they wanted to make sure she didn't have any head or neck injuries," Gill said.
Darlington Police, the Lafayette County Highway Department, Mineral Point Fire Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin State Patrol Crash Reconstruction Team also assisted at the scene.
The crash investigation remains open. It is the fifth fatal accident in Lafayette County in 2017.
Howard E. Detra Jr., 69, South Wayne, was killed after colliding with Jean A. Cleary, 83, Darlington, at the intersection of Wisconsin 23 and Shortcut Road shortly before 3:35 p.m. Wednesday.
Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill said reconstruction of the scene is still being finalized by Wisconsin State Patrol, so the cause of the crash is still unknown, but he did identify the accident as a side impact collision.
Detra was traveling north on Wis. 23 when his 2005 Ford Explorer collided with Cleary's 2002 Chevy Cavalier, which she was driving east on Shortcut Road. Following the crash, both vehicles kept moving and the Explorer overturned in the northeast ditch, resting on its roof. Gill said Detra had to be extricated from the vehicle by Darlington Fire with the use of hydraulic cutting tools commonly referred to as the Jaws of Life.
Though an attempt was made to transport him via Med Flight or Air Care of Dubuque, neither helicopter could fly due to weather conditions. Detra was instead taken by Rural Medical Ambulance Service to the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County where he later died as a result of his injuries.
Cleary was also taken to the hospital but for minor injuries such as bruising, Gill said. She was released later that day.
"She's an 83-year-old woman, they wanted to make sure she didn't have any head or neck injuries," Gill said.
Darlington Police, the Lafayette County Highway Department, Mineral Point Fire Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin State Patrol Crash Reconstruction Team also assisted at the scene.
The crash investigation remains open. It is the fifth fatal accident in Lafayette County in 2017.