Driver in fatal Walmart accident won’t be charged

Calling the incident a “tragic accident,” Ozaukee County District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay announced last week that he will not bring criminal charges against the 74-year-old driver of a pickup truck who hit and killed a woman in the parking lot of the Walmart store in Saukville in October.

The driver, a Fredonia resident, told authorities she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes while parking in a handicapped spot.

Lindsay’s announcement was made in a letter to the Saukville Police Department, which asked him to review the Oct. 26 incident that resulted in the death of 50-year-old Mailee Hang of Saukville, a mother of four, to determine if criminal charges were warranted.

“A thorough review of the evidence shows the crash causing Ms. Hang’s death was a tragic accident. (The driver) lost control of her vehicle with catastrophic consequences,” Lindsay wrote. “While these actions may constitute ordinary negligence, there is insufficient evidence to show that (the driver) was criminally negligent.

“As such, the state would likely be unable to meet its burden to prove a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The crime that most closely applied to the Walmart accident is homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, which would have required the prosecution to prove the driver’s actions constituted criminal negligence, according to Lindsay.

To prove criminal negligence for that offense, the prosecution would have to establish the driver’s operation of the Ford Ranger pickup truck created a risk of death or great bodily harm; the risk of death or great bodily harm was unreasonable and substantial; and the driver should have been aware that her operation of a vehicle created the unreasonable and substantial risk of death or great bodily harm.

Surveillance video from the Walmart parking lot showed the pickup truck traveled at low speed down a parking lane and slowed for a vehicle backing out of a spot before continuing on to a handicap parking place. As the truck pulled into the parking place, it suddenly accelerated forward, striking a concrete handicap signpost, Hang and two vehicles, according to Lindsay.

The driver’s explanation that she intended to brake but accidentally stepped on the gas pedal is consistent with the video and was not contradicted by witnesses, Lindsay added.

“As the vehicle traveled through the parking lot, it was traveling at appropriate speeds and was not being operated in a reckless manner,” he wrote. “Further, (the driver) does not have a history of reckless or negligent driving. She had a valid driver’s license at the time of this incident and has no criminal history or traffic violations on her Wisconsin driver record.”

Officers who responded to the accident did not detect any signs the driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs, and she consented to providing a blood sample for analysis by the Wisconsin Crime Laboratory, according to Lindsay.

The woman’s cell phone was also examined and there were no signs she was distracted by it at the time of the crash.

Lindsay noted that the Saukville Police Department filed a Driver Condition or Behavior Report with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation so the department can determine whether the woman is able to safely operate a vehicle in the future. 

The woman has surrendered her driver’s license.