On Sunday, December 21, 2025, at 6:30 a.m., the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a UTV crash with injuries in the 13000 block of Wildcat Road, Town of Darlington, in Lafayette County.   

Lafayette County Sheriff’s Deputies, Darlington Fire and Lafayette County EMS were immediately dispatched, according to Sheriff Reg Gill. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was also contacted and responded to the crash scene.

The investigation of the UTV crash revealed that at some time during the early morning hours on Sunday, Dec. 21, a 2025 Can Am UTV was traveling eastbound on Wildcat Road, when the driver of the UTV failed to negotiate a curve, left the roadway and struck a tree. 

The driver and lone occupant of the UTV, Mark A. Nelson, (55), of Potosi, WI, was partially ejected from the UTV and declared dead at the scene by the Lafayette County Coroner’s Office. Nelson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.   

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wardens have taken the primary role in the ongoing investigation of this crash, with the assistance of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office.