MONROE — A local man lost his life in the first of a pair of ATV/UTV crashes last Sunday night in Lafayette County within 20 minutes of each other. 

In the fatal crash, occurring just before 4 p.m., a man on a three-wheeled ATV lost control of the bike near Wis. 11 and Phillips Lane, officials said he was ejected as the three-wheeler left the trail. 

“It looks like he just lost control,” said Troy Loeffelholz, chief deputy/undersheriff for the Lafayette County Sheriff’s office. “They did call Medflight (helicopter)… and it did arrive but the flight surgeon and coroner pronounced (the victim) dead on scene.”

The victim was identified Monday as James Harms, 51, of Monroe. The crash remains under investigation.

The other crash came at about 4:20 p.m. — near 14700 County F — and involved a Polaris UTV and a 2025 Toyota, according to police reports.

“Kyle A. Brunkow, 44, Darlington, was southbound in his Polaris on CTH F and attempted to turn into a driveway. At that point, a 2025 Toyota, driven by Greg A. Schulte, 65, of Darlington, tried to pass the UTV and struck it,” a sheriff’s office statement said.

Loeffelholz said no one was seriously injured or transported to the hospital from that crash.

Brunkow, however, was arrested for operating a UTV while Intoxicated — 2nd Offense and was taken to the Lafayette County Jail, where he was booked and released. 

Darlington Fire and Lafayette County EMS responded to the calls. Darlington Police Department also assisted on scene, as did Wis. Dept. of Natural Resources personnel, according to Loeffelholz.

Though he was unsure whether all the parties involved in the two crashes were wearing safety helmets, Loeffelholz said that — for those who want to be out on the trail or ATV routes — it is a vital piece of gear.

“That, and I’d say (riders) should always obey the posted speed limit,” he said, adding that in Lafayette County, as in many other Wisconsin counties, the limit is 30 MPH, and is enforced.

There have now been 27 fatal ATV/UTV in Wisconsin crashes this year — including a 12-year-old who died after an Aug. 9 rollover in Wyocena, according to state Dept. of Natural Resources statistics. 

In 2024, there were 40 fatalities from ATV/UTV accidents in the state.

Three-wheeled ATVs, like the one in the fatal crash, are a rare sight. New sales of three-wheeled ATVs were banned nationally in the U.S. in 1988 due to safety concerns and a high rate of accidents and injuries. 

Between 1983 and 1988, three-wheelers were associated with hundreds of thousands of injuries; and over a thousand deaths.