The Madison man who purchased alcohol for a group of teenagers minutes before their car ran a red light and was struck by a tractor trailer pleaded guilty yesterday morning to a civil charge.
The accident occurred just after 11 p.m., June 6, at the intersection of Mineral Point Road and South Gammon. The driver, Tyler Pagel, 18, who was due to graduate high school several days after the accident took place, had a blood-alcohol level of about .24, almost three times the legal level of intoxication in Wisconsin.
Representatives of the Madison Police Department, the Dane County sheriff’s department, the Wisconsin division of alcohol and tobacco enforcement, the Dane County Coroner’s office, and the District Attorney’s office attended the trial.
Madison Police Officer Graham King estimated the car was moving at 80 mph when the driver failed to stop for a red light and the car was struck by a tractor-trailer crossing the intersection. The top of the vehicle was sheared off as it went underneath the truck.
The car, a 1994 Volvo, continued across the intersection and jumped the curb before striking the U.S. Bank building. Passengers Pagel, Miles Drake, also 18, and Adam Poole, 20, were all pronounced dead at the scene. None of the victims was wearing a seat belt, police said.
The three victims had earlier been drinking at the house of Kyle Bass, 23, who purchased the alcohol the teenagers were drinking the night they died.
Jim Jenkins, special agent for the Wisconsin Alcohol and Tobacco enforcement, said the victims’ friends, who he described as a “rough crowd,” provided little help in implicating Bass.
“We talked to a lot of underage people with the three young deceased, asking for an honest account of what happened that night,” Jenkins said. “We received very little cooperation.”
Bass entered a plea of no contest to providing alcohol for the three underage drinkers and paid the maximum fine for the offense, $500.
Madison District Attorney Brian Blanchard said authorities were unable to file additional charges of more severity because the victims were all at least 18.
“We can assign accountability to those who provide underage people with alcohol, especially in situations where they might be driving,” Blanchard said. “But if they had been under 18, this would have been a felony.”
Blanchard suggested the laws regarding providing alcohol for underage drinkers are too lenient.
“I think in general there ought to be the potential for more serious penalties for someone who knowingly procures alcohol for someone they know who is going to be driving who is underage,” Blanchard said.
Public information officer Larry Kamholz said he believes the key to avoiding similar incidences in the future is education.
“We know what’s going to happen out there. It’s hard to prevent,” Kamholz said. “If it’s a family or a friend, let them know how much you care about them, because it puts your family, your neighbors at risk.”
