Driver charged in connection with fatal accident

The Oneida County district attorney’s office has charged a 23-year-old Arbor Vitae man with two counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle in connection with a three-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 51 last July that took the lives of a Hazelhurst couple.

Brandon L. Boh made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon before Judge Michael Schiek at which time a $10,000 signature bond was set. As a condition of bond, Boh may not leave the state.

Defense attorney Gary Cirilli waived formal reading of the criminal complaint and requested a preliminary hearing.

That hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 21.

In addition to the homicide charges, Boh is also charged negligent operation of a vehicle, a Class A misdemeanor. 

That charge is related to injuries suffered by the operator of the third vehicle involved in the crash, an 85-year-old Hazelhurst man.

The accident occurred at approximately 2:56 p.m. Friday, July 12, 2024.

According to the Oneida County sheriff’s office, witnesses reported that a northbound 2017 Toyota Camry, operated by Greg Bohn, was waiting to turn into a private driveway when a second northbound vehicle, a 2023 International MV 607 truck owned by Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), operated by Boh, struck it from behind, pushing it into the southbound lane of Highway 51 where it collided with a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck operated by the 85-year-old Hazelhurst man.

Greg Bohn and his wife, Audrey, both 70, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The elderly Hazelhurst man was transported to the hospital for treatment of bone fractures, according to a police report attached to the complaint.

The complaint states that Boh told the responding officers that he looked away from the road to check that the utility trailer attached to his vehicle was still secure. 

He estimated his speed at 58 to 60 miles per hour.

“I could hear a noise coming from the trailer that didn’t sound normal then I heard before come from the trailer,” he said, according to the complaint. “I was looking at my mirror and the camera we have on the truck to see if everything was OK and that I wasn’t going to lose the trailer or something, and then as soon as I took my eyes off the camera and the mirror, I was looking at the camera last, I put my eyes on the road again. I saw the car stopped and I saw their brake lights and then as soon as I saw the brake lights and the car, I slammed on the brakes and tried to swerve towards the ditch and then I had no time to swerve or stop the truck I was in and pretty much after that I saw the glass in front of me and I pulled over on the side of the road and called 911.”

Immediately following the accident, Boh consented to a blood draw to confirm there were no intoxicants in his system, the complaint states. 

He also allowed law enforcement to search his cellphone, the complaint notes.

The process was delayed, due to damage to the phone’s data port, but law enforcement was ultimately able to construct a timeline of calls and messages to and from the device from approximately one hour before the accident to one hour after the accident, the complaint states.

“In the timeline report, (the investigating officer) observed multiple incoming and outgoing messages as well as incoming and outgoing calls” including an outgoing chat message at 2:56:07 p.m.

The call log constructed by law enforcement also shows a cancelled outgoing call at 2:56 p.m.

“The telephone number (of the cancelled outgoing call) was not in Boh’s contact list, suggesting to (the officer) that the telephone number was manually typed or an internet search was done to locate the telephone number with a subsequent call then being placed,” the complaint states. “Based upon (the officer’s) general knowledge of how Apple iPhones work, (the officer) knows a call showing cancelled is most always due to physical manipulation of the cellular phone to cancel the call.”

During Friday’s court appearance, Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer explained that her office had to wait for the results of a DOT accident reconstruction, as well as other evidence, before filing its complaint. If convicted of the homicide charges, Boh faces up to 20 years in prison. The misdemeanor negligent operation count carries a maximum sentence of 9 months in jail.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].