Struggle for wheel preceded crash into Scouts
Bail set at $250,000 for 21-year-old driver
LAKE HALLIE – The 21-year-old driver and a passenger in the truck that struck and killed three Girl Scouts and the mother of one of the girls had been inhaling chemical vapors before crashing into the highway ditch where the victims were cleaning up trash, authorities said Monday.
The passenger told authorities that the driver, Colten Treu, did not appear coherent and that he tried to take control of the vehicle from him. A struggle ensued, leading to the truck crossing the centerline and entering the ditch about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, WQOW-TV in Eau Claire reported.
Chippewa County authorities are recommending 13 charges against Treu, including four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. Bail was set at $250,000 at a hearing Monday.
The fourth-graders and mother were collecting trash in Lake Hallie along Highway P when they were struck by the truck, which was headed northbound but veered out of its lane, according to the release from Lake Hallie police. Treu sped away but later surrendered to authorities.
A community shaken
The incident, which also injured a fourth Girl Scout, shook the Chippewa
Valley community.
Michelle Golden, director of human resources and public relations for the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District, said the district is providing counseling and other services to those affected by the crash that claimed the lives of Jayna Kelley, 9, of Lake Hallie; Autum Helgeson, 10, of Lake Hallie;, Haylee Hickle, 10, of the Town of Lafayette; and Sara Jo Schneider, 32, of the Town of Lafayette.
Schneider and Hickle were mother and daughter. One other girl, 10, was struck and taken to the hospital, where she is in stable condition, according to the release from Lake Hallie police.
“We’re trying to support the kids and staff as best we can,” Golden said. “Obviously it’s been devastating for our staff. People are struggling.”
The girls were a part of Girl Scout Troop #3055, and attended Halmstad and Southview elementary schools, Golden said. She said the district brought in additional counselors to help the children, staff and families.
Substitute teachers also were brought in to allow teachers to take the time they need to cope with the tragedy, she said. The school hosted a memorial service Sunday evening, but no further events had been planned as of Monday afternoon.
Golden said that the Chippewa Valley area, where all of the victims were from, is a tightknit community.
“There’s a lot of love and a huge outpouring of support from the community and other local schools,” she said.
Outpouring of support
One of those outpourings is a GoFundMe page created by the Chippewa Community Foundation, a local economic development corporation, to help raise money for the medical care of the 10-year-old girl who is in the hospital and the funerals of Kelley, Helgeson, Hickle and Schneider. The campaign, called Chippewa Falls Girl Scout #3055, which was created Monday morning, had already raised more than $18,000.
A joint funeral for Hickle and Schneider is set for 11 a.m. Thursday at Chippewa Valley Bible Church, 513 E. South Ave. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
According to her obituary, Schneider was a graduate of Chippewa Falls Senior High and attended University of Wisconsin-Barron of Rice Lake. She worked for Hewlett-Packard, and she loved painting, making crafts with her daughter and sisters, volunteering with the Girl Scouts and in her church, the obituary said, and is survived by a son.
Hickle, according to her obituary, attended Southview Elementary School and was a great sketch artist. She loved to paint and craft with her mother and one of her favorite moments was watching over her pesky little brother, the obituary said.
No other funerals have yet been announced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.