GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — A Green Bay man charged with causing a double fatal crash on Friday told police he knew he was too drunk to drive.
On Monday, six formal charges were filed against 27-year-old Daniel Boucher for the crash at Packerland Drive and Oakwood Drive on the city’s west side.
The victims were identified as 52-year-old James C. Rush and his wife, 47-year-old Wendy L. Rush of Hobart. Boucher’s fiancée, 28-year-old Tera M. Trepanier, was seriously injured in the crash as a passenger in his SUV.
“I know I’m too drunk too drive. I know better. I’m not stupid,” Boucher told an officer, according to the criminal complaint.
Per the complaint, Boucher told rescue personnel and investigators at various times that he had between 6 and 8 drinks that day. He said he had begun drinking after leaving work at 2 p.m.; the crash happened around 9:40 p.m.
Boucher faces:
- Two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of motor vehicle
- Two counts of operating a motor vehicle while revoked, causing death
- One count of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle
- One count of operating a motor vehicle while revoked causing great bodily harm
If convicted of all six counts, Boucher faces a maximum of 162 years in prison.
Boucher’s license had been suspended from a drunken driving offense last July. He claimed someone else was driving but rescue crews removed him from the driver’s seat.
The complaint says Boucher failed a field sobriety test, but does not indicate how fast Boucher was driving, or what his blood alcohol level may have been.
A $250,000 cash bond was set for Boucher during his initial court appearance Monday.
On behalf Jim and Wendy Rush, the family released the following statement:
“Jim and Wendy Rush were loving, devoted parents and active members of their community. Married for 21 years, they were returning from a dinner out together Friday night when their lives were tragically cut short. We thank God that their two children, Christopher and Megan, were not with them at the time of this senseless and entirely preventable tragedy.
This tragedy affects the entire community. We are all devastated by this tremendous loss and by the permanent void this has created in the lives of their children, both of whom currently attend Pulaski High School.
Jim was Director of Logistics for Creative Converting in Clintonville, and Wendy was Director of Marketing at Integrative Therapeutics in Green Bay. They each dedicated time and energy to local youth groups and enhanced many young lives in the Green Bay area, as well as in Elgin, Illinois, where they lived previously.
Jim was a baseball coach with the Pulaski Youth Organization as well as with the Tri-Cities Little League in Illinois. Wendy was an active member of the Pulaski High School Music Boosters and was also heavily involved in the PYO baseball teams.
We have spoken with the assistant principal at Pulaski High School and they will have a Crisis team in place to help kids who may be impacted tomorrow. It is critical that we focus on helping all of the children cope at a time like this.
We want to reassure everyone that we are doing all we can to safeguard the children and help them navigate this tragedy.
We would like to thank the Green Bay police department and emergency services for being so responsive, as well as child protective services for taking care of the children until family could arrive. I also want to thank the accident investigation team from Brown County and others who worked so diligently to understand what happened, as well as the District Attorney’s office for commencing their pursuit of justice. Lastly, we want to thank the many friends and neighbors who continue to be there to support the kids and our family at this difficult time.
Words simply cannot express our grief. Right now we are focused on the immediate needs of the children. We have established a Go Fund Me page to help support the children’s needs, at:gofundme.com/v4qpb7ms“
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