Edgar man charged with Town of Merrill hit-and-run

TOWN OF MERRILL – Brandon S. Karlen, 28, of Edgar, has been charged with one felony count of hit-and-run causing great bodily harm following an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 16 in the Town of Merrill.

According to the Criminal Complaint on file, conviction on the charge carries a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to 15 years in prison. A conviction would also trigger a mandatory two-year revocation of operating privilege under Wis. Stat. 343.31(3)(i), and because the truck involved was seized under state forfeiture law, the court would be required to order the defendant to forfeit the vehicle – his gray and tan 2008 Ford F-350 – if convicted.

The crash

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 3:04 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, reporting a man lying in the road near the intersection of County Rd. K and Lake Pesobic Rd., according to the Criminal Complaint on file. Deputies found the victim bleeding from a laceration on the back right side of his head and from a second wound to his lower left leg that had “fatty tissue exposed with skin hanging off of the area,” the Complaint said. He was transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for treatment.

Investigators later spoke with the victim by phone, and he reported receiving more than 50 stitches to his calf and head and said he was in extreme pain in his left shoulder and right foot, though he did not believe he had internal injuries or would require surgery, according to the complaint.

Deputies pulled security video from two bars along County Rd. K, one north of the crash site and one south of it. The victim had been at the bar to the north; footage showed him walking away from that bar and heading south on County Rd. K at about 2:49 a.m. Video also captured a two-tone, dual-rear-wheel pickup truck with visor lights and rear wheel-well running lights leaving the same bar at 3:00:32 a.m. and heading in the same direction. The footage showed the truck’s driver hugging the bar’s owner before leaving; the owner later identified the driver to law enforcement as Karlen.

Karlen’s account – and the inconsistencies in it

Two days after the crash, on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at about 4:15 p.m., Karlen went to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on his own and told deputies he believed he “may have struck someone” on County Rd. K.

But Karlen’s version of events did not match what investigators found on video.

Karlen told deputies that on Monday, Aug. 17 – the day after the crash – the bar owner asked him if he had driven past “a bad accident” on County Rd. K. He told her he had not, according to the complaint. It was only the following day, after the bar owner called him back to say he had left around the same time as the crash and to ask whether his truck had any damage, that Karlen changed his account. He then told deputies he assumed a deer had run into the side of his truck, damaging his mirror.

Karlen said that after feeling the impact, he pulled over about 100 feet down the road, though he could not describe exactly where he had stopped. He said he got out, found only his mirror damaged, walked to the back of the truck and shined his phone light into the ditch but saw no deer, then got back in his truck and drove off. He told deputies he had not walked back to the curve where the impact occurred.

That account does not square with the video evidence. Reviewing footage from the bar south of the crash site – which captured County Rd. K to the north, including, by headlight, the area where the strike occurred – investigators determined there was “no time his vehicle came to a stop or slowed” as Karlen drove south through the crash location, according to the Complaint. Karlen passed the south bar’s camera at 3:01:44 a.m.

Karlen’s account of his drinking that night also does not line up with the timeline captured on camera. He told deputies he drank three “shorty” beers, which he described as six to eight ounces each, plus a shot of something he called “spicy pickle,” which he described as similar to vodka. He said he started drinking at about 8:30 p.m. and stopped by midnight, and believed he left the bar between 2:15 and 2:30 a.m. Surveillance video, however, shows the truck identified as his did not leave the bar parking lot until 3:00:32 a.m. – roughly 30 to 45 minutes later than Karlen said he left.

Karlen also described a specific route home – south on County Rd. K into the City of Merrill, then on to County Rd. V in Marathon County, State Rd. 107, County Rd. A, County Rd. H, and finally Cherry Grove Ln., according to the complaint. Security cameras in the City of Merrill instead showed him traveling westbound on State Rd. 64 toward Grand Ave., passing the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 3:04:05 a.m.

Karlen told deputies he removed the damaged mirror and brought it with him because the truck “was not running right to drive,” according to the complaint. Investigators observed several large cracks in the mirror “consistent with a hard strike.” Karlen consented to a download of his cellphone, and the complaint states law enforcement “located numerous digital artifacts showing he was untruthful during his interview.”

Court proceedings

Karlen made his initial appearance by video on Friday, Aug. 21 while in custody. District Attorney Kristopher R. Ellis appeared for the State of Wisconsin. Reading of the Complaint was waived, and Karlen indicated he wanted an attorney. Judge Galen Bayne-Allison set a $10,000 signature bond.

Conditions of the bond require Karlen to maintain absolute sobriety and prohibit him from consuming or possessing alcohol, illegal controlled substances, or non-prescribed prescription drugs. He is barred from any establishment whose main purpose is the sale of alcohol, may not operate a motor vehicle between dusk and dawn, and is to have no contact with the victim. He must also be fitted with a personal sobrietor to monitor his sobriety before his release from custody.

An adjourned initial appearance is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 14 at 9:15 a.m. in Lincoln County Branch 1, before Judge Bayne-Allison.

This case has not been concluded. Unless a judgment of conviction is entered, Karlen is presumed innocent of all charges.