Chetek woman enters not guilty plea in vehicular homicide case

MENOMONIE — A Chetek woman accused of vehicular homicide, stemming from a head-on crash Feb. 25, has entered a not guilty plea.

Barbara J. McLennan, 57, was charged in March in Dunn County Court with homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle. She remains free on a signature bond.

At a hearing last week, McLennan entered a not guilty plea.

Judge Christina Mayer set the next court date for March 6. The trial is set to begin Dec. 8. A final pretrial was set for Oct. 2.

According to the criminal complaint, the Wisconsin State Patrol handled the investigation into a two-vehicle head-on crash at 12:52 p.m. Feb. 25 near Highway F.

When the state trooper arrived, she was told by Menomonie Fire Department personnel that the male driver in a sedan had sustained fatal injuries.

“After speaking with other law enforcement officers, fire personnel, and witnesses on scene, it was determined the pickup truck driver had crossed the center line traveling southbound in the northbound lane,” the trooper’s report states.

She spoke with the driver of the pickup, identified as McLennan, who was later transported to a hospital in Menomonie.

“When I approached the crash scene, I observed a pickup and a sedan both with heavy front-end damage positioned across both lanes of traffic with the area of impact appearing to be in the northbound lane of Highway 25,” her report states. “The sedan, a gray Pontiac Bonneville, sustained severe damage to the driver’s compartment, there was airbag deployment, and a deceased male was trapped in the driver’s seat. The pickup, a maroon Ford F150, also had severe front-end damage and airbag deployment. Due to positioning of the vehicles involved it appeared the pickup was southbound on Highway 25 and the sedan was northbound.”

The male driver was visually identified as a Boyceville resident.

The trooper later met with McLennan at the medical center, who admitted she had attempted to pass a slower-moving vehicle in front of her, and she struck the oncoming car. She admitted she was at fault for causing the crash.

The trooper was able to obtain video surveillance footage that captured images of the crash.

“The video shows brake lights from the maroon Ford F150 and the front end, the truck drop which would be consistent with braking prior to impact with the Pontiac Bonneville,” the criminal complaint reads. “It does not appear the Pontiac Bonneville braked or took any evasive actions to avoid a crash prior to impact.”

McLennan’s series of events she provided in her statement matched the series of events shown in the crash scene video.