Complaint: Teen charged in crash that killed younger brother
MEQUON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Ozaukee County prosecutors filed multiple charges Monday, July 3 against an 18-year-old Mequon man following a weekend crash that killed a 15-year-old, who the driver identified to police as his brother.
Court records show John Benske, 18, has been charged with homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle and OWI-1st, with an enhancer for having a passenger younger than 16 in the car at the time.
According to a criminal complaint, Mequon police were called to the 9800 block of N. River Road, just south of W. Le Mont Blvd., for a crash at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
A responding officer said as he arrived at the crash scene, he saw a person, later identified as Benske, running northbound along the road.
The officer said Benske told him that his brother needed help. The officer had Benske sit in the back of his squad car, where he reportedly noted smelling an "overwhelming odor of intoxicants" on Benske.
According to the officer, Benske "made a statement that his little brother had been drinking and that they had switched who was driving before the crash."
When the officer got to the crash site, he said he then saw a red Hyundai Elantra with major front-end damage. Tire marks indicated the car had been traveling northbound and failed to negotiate curve, then overcorrected before leaving the road and hitting a tree.
A passenger, later identified as a 15-year-old Mequon boy, was still seat belted in the car but was not showing any signs of life.
The officer and a citizen witness pulled the boy from the car and performed CPR, but emergency medical responders later declared the boy dead at the scene.
Benske was taken to Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Mequon. While there, medical personnel noted an abrasion on Benske's upper body consistent with a seatbelt mark.
Police gave Benske a breathalyzer test, and reported the result was 0.21, which is more than twice the legal limit.
Benske appeared in court Monday afternoon for a bail hearing. The teen appeared via video while members of Benske's family, including his mother, sat silently in the courtroom.
Prosecutors requested a $20,000 bond for Benske; Assistant District Attorney Kerra Stumbris said Benske running from the scene was a red flag.
"There are certainly some concerns already raised with his willingness to potentially flee," Stumbris told the court Monday.
Benske's attorney, Michael Chernin, sought a $5,000 bond. Chernin refuted the idea of Benske trying to escape the scene; he maintained the teen was trying to find help.
"[Benske] was distraught. He was running around, but he was seeking aid," Chernin said. "He had no intention of flight."
Chernin also noted Benske had been dealing with mental health challenges after his father died of pancreatic cancer in 2019.
"He had written suicide notes, and he had been cutting himself and engaging in self-harm," Chernin told the court.
Chernin said another reason he was requesting a lesser bond was to reduce some of the financial stress on Benske's family, which would be needing therapy in the wake of the crash.
Benske's mother, Stephanie Benske, who adopted Benske from Guatemala when he was eight-months-old, is a family law attorney and has practiced in Ozaukee County and handled children's court cases in Milwaukee.
In the end, Court Commissioner Sandy Williams set bail at $20,000, citing the risk that comes with Benske facing a maximum sentence of 25.5 years in prison if convicted.
Chernin and Stephanie Benske declined to comment after Monday's hearing.
Benske is due back in court July 17 for a preliminary hearing.