Daniel Williams
BROOKFIELD, Wis. - A 25-year-old Waukesha man is charged with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle tied to a three-vehicle crash in March. The accused is Daniel Williams.
According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched on Thursday, March 23 to a vehicle crash on W. Capitol Drive just west of Barker Road. Officers noted there were three vehicles involved in the wreck. The defendant, Daniel Williams, was the driver of a black SUV. Also involved was a red sedan and blue SUV. Officers noted the crash happened during daylight and the road condition was reported to be dry.
The complaint says the driver of the red sedan was taken to a hospital and later died.
Officers recovered video surveillance from a gas station near the crash. It showed a black SUV driving westbound on Capitol Drive. The speed limit in the area of the crash scene is listed at 55 mph. The complaint says based on his experience, the officer "believed that the defendant's vehicle was going in excess of 55 miles per hour." In the video, the "defendant's vehicle did not appear to slow down as it struck the rear right side of (the red sedan)." That sedan spun and struck the front corner of the blue SUV.
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A Waukesha County sheriff's deputy and his K-9 partner responded to the crash scene and conducted a search of the defendant's vehicle. Law enforcement "located scraps of suspected marijuana on the floor on the passenger side of the vehicle and in the storage compartment underneath the armrest between the front seats of the vehicle," the complaint says.
At the hospital, an officer questioned Williams about what happened. The complaint says Williams "stated that he was driving westbound on Capitol Drive near Culvers when another vehicle going eastbound on Capitol Drive attempted to make a left-hand turn from the median break into the parking lot of the gas station. The defendant stated that the crash happened so fast that he did not have time to brake or react to avoid collision." Williams indicated he was doing about 50 miles an hour at the time of the crash. The complaint says the "defendant was not willing to consent to a download of the vehicle's event data recorder. (The officer) noted that the defendant appeared to be hesitant on answering some of the questions regarding the crash." Williams stated he was going to his home in Waukesha at the time of the crash. The complaint says he refused to complete field sobriety tests and was unwilling to consent to a blood draw.
According to the complaint, a search warrant was obtained to download the data from the airbag control module of Williams' SUV. It "showed that the defendant was going 99 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone 5 seconds prior to the crash, and 89 miles per hour at the time of the crash," the complaint says. It goes on to say the "defendant activated his brakes 0.5 seconds prior to impact."
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Williams made his initial appearance in Waukesha County court on Friday, Oct. 6. Cash bond was set at $100,000.