Bizarre, Separate Wisconsin Car Accidents Kill Two in Same Family

In a tale with multiple drivers and victims, almost everyone involved was reportedly intoxicated.

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Early Sunday morning was a rough stretch for one Wisconsin family that saw two members killed within hours in separate car accidents, both of which reportedly involved alcohol.

Around 1 a.m. on April 29, a vehicle struck Mary J. Moore, 45, of West Allis., Wisc., causing serious injuries. Hours later, her son, Thomas M. Olson, 22, died en route to the hospital to visit his mother. Unfortunately, neither story is quite that simple.

Moore was reportedly lying in the street when the vehicle ran over her. Witnesses say they thought the car had simply gone over a speed bump until they got closer. Charles Padgett, West Allis Deputy Chief of Police, says Moore had been drinking before she was hit, but aren’t sure how much. The driver of the vehicle that struck Moore took off, but was later found and arrested. Police say that driver may have been intoxicated too.

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Olson, in a vehicle driven by a friend, was racing toward the hospital—police weren’t sure if he knew his mother had died yet—and was involved in a crash about 5:30 a.m. after the speeding driver collided with three parked cars and flipped. Olson was killed in the accident, while the driver of that car was also arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Nobody else in the vehicle was seriously injured.

“In my 24 years (of law enforcement), I’ve seen a lot of strange things, but don’t specifically remember a case like this,” Padgett told the Associated Press.

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