Eau Claire (WQOW) - One
of the drivers in a weekend crash that left two people dead now faces nine
felony charges.
Gerald Larson, from Eau Claire, was charged Thursday with two
counts of homicide by drunk driving, and seven charges of causing injury by
drunk driving.
According to the sheriff's
department's investigative report, Gerald Larson's wife Karen, and another
passenger, Lori Barger, died when his SUV collided with a pickup truck north of
Chippewa Falls. Chippewa County
investigators say Larson was intoxicated and ran a stop sign.
According to investigators, Larson
told deputies that all he could remember was that he swerved to miss something.
The other driver became emotional while saying he was unable to avoid the
collision because he said Larson's vehicle 'came out of nowhere'. When asked
several times where he was coming from prior to the crash, deputies say Larson
would only say that his shoulder hurt.
But they say he eventually told them they had just left a tavern in Tilden,
and said that he had about three beers.
Three others in Larson's vehicle
were hurt, including his daughter Jodi Martens. At last word she was still in a
coma. Another passenger, Elizabeth Kopp,
was upgraded to fair condition Thursday.
Her husband Doug was also seriously hurt.
Four people in the pickup truck were
injured, including Roger Aspengren. He suffered a fractured neck and other
broken bones.
Larson will
return to court next month.
