Western Wisconsin corrections officer killed by drunken driver, sheriff's office says
MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities in western Wisconsin say a correctional officer died after a suspected drunken driver struck his vehicle on the morning of Christmas Eve.
The Dunn County Sheriff's Office says Jeff Reynolds was driving westbound on U.S. Highway 29 around 2:44 a.m. on Tuesday when a driver in a northbound vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign on County Highway E, striking Reynolds's vehicle.
Reynolds had been on his way to fill in a shift at the county jail at the time of the crash.
The suspected drunken driver, a 40-year-old man from Eau Claire, has been charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, the sheriff's office says. He had his first court appearance on Thursday, where the judge set a $75,000 bond.
Three other people, including the suspect's wife, were also injured in the crash.
The Dunn County Sheriff's Office says Reynolds began his career there in 2007 and will be greatly missed.
"He was a model employee. He set the standard for professionalism," Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd said.
On Wednesday — New Year's Day — the sheriff's office hosted a candlelight gathering for Reynolds.
"When he walked in, everybody smiled. He was always coming in with good energy. Never made us feel like inmates," Callee Horner, a former inmate who attended the gathering, said. "He was just a person that you won't forget."
The crash is under investigation by the Wisconsin State Patrol.