GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Two tragic incidents in Brown County over the weekend are being blamed on erratic driving, highlighting what police call a growing issue.
“Time and time again we see cars just displaying reckless behavior,” said Commander Kevin Warych with the Green Bay Police Department.
Late Friday night, authorities say two people were tragically killed in Allouez in a crash where speed and alcohol are believed to have been factors.
On Sunday night, Green Bay Police say Merissa Reed, 29, crashed her van into a building on Main Street, causing it to partially collapse.
The Main Salon & Spa has been located in the building for 12 years, according to salon owner Betz Castro Rodriguez.
“I just don’t feel it’s totally unsafe walking across the street or anything like that here, but there have been some times where there’s been several irresponsible drivers here in this area,” said Castro Rodriguez. “For some reason, they think it’s some type of drag strip or something like that.”
Castro Rodriguez doesn’t believe the issue is isolated to Main Street. Police would tell him he’s right.
“Traffic is still our number one complaint here at the police department,” said Warych. “We constantly evaluate how we deploy our resources to address this growing problem.”
In the Main Street building collapse, there are differing accounts of what happened.
“Witnesses indicate they saw the defendant driving erratically down Main Street,” said Claire Lamal, a prosecutor for Brown County. “They report she was speeding and swerving in and out of traffic.”
A criminal complaint shows Reed told police she lost control of her van while dealing with another vehicle trying to cut her off. She claims she was only going slightly above the speed limit.
The passenger in her van also told police another vehicle was trying to cut off their van.
There has been some speculation the van was racing another vehicle before it crashed. However, none of the four accounts outlined in the criminal complaint make any direct mention that there was racing involved in the incident.
Warych encourages people to get police a license plate if they see erratic drivers. He says police will follow up on the tip.
“We have a portal here on the city’s request for service,” said Warych. “It says Slow Down Green Bay. We’ve tried to promote this for many years to educate, bring awareness to this growing issue and we still see tragic events.”
Police say the citation for first offense reckless driving in Green Bay was recently raised to $961.
The charges Reed faces are greater than that citation. They include reckless driving and operating while suspended, both causing great bodily harm, and bail jumping. All are felonies.
As for the Allouez crash, the victims have been identified as Trevor Hermon and Luis Rios-Alvarado.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Department says Kelton Snulligan caused the crash and will make an initial court appearance on Wednesday.
Snulligan is still hospitalized and charges have not been filed.
Police say the two vehicle crash happened when a Mercedes, driven by Snulligan, crashed into another vehicle, a Toyota, which was turning east onto Allouez Avenue from Webster Avenue.
Hermon was one of the passengers in the Mercedes.
Rios-Alvarado was driving the Toyota.
