Officials: 3 Separate Crashes Result In OWI Arrest

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said a suspected drunken driver was arrested following three separate crashes Sunday.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call just before 3 a.m. Sunday of a hit-and-run crash near the intersection of 8th and Roosevelt streets in Fennimore.

Deputies at the scene contacted a woman from Highland who pointed out that her car had been struck. Deputies said next to the woman’s damaged car were several pieces of the offending vehicle, which deputies determined was silver in color.

The Sheriff’s Office then received a second call reporting a silver car had struck an embankment on Rogers Hollow Road just west of Fennimore. When deputies arrived at that crash scene, they saw a Subaru had gone over an embankment and struck a fence but no one was around the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Office said dispatch received yet another 911 call relating to this incident, reporting that the driver of the vehicle, Marcus W. Henkel, 21, of Fennimore/La Crosse, was walking on Rogers Hollow Road.

A family member transported Henkel back to the crash scene, authorities said. Deputies spoke with Henkel and determined that he had been drinking and his driving was impaired, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Henkel was arrested on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff’s officials said it was later determined that Henkel had left the Hilltop Bar in Fennimore and traveled west on 8th Street striking the Highland woman’s vehicle. Officials said Henkel then continued west on 8th Street toward Wilson Street, and once he reached Wilson Street, he missed a turn and drove through the lawn of 820 Wilson St. and ran over a mailbox.

The Sheriff’s Office said Henkel continued south through the yards and knocked over a city of Fennimore streetlight and then struck a parked Ford truck.

Sheriff’s officials said Henkel then drove west to Rogers Hollow Road, where he drove over the embankment and into the fence.

Authorities said Henkel is also facing charges of hit-and-run, prohibited alcohol concentration first offense and failure to notify police of a crash.