DELAVAN TOWNSHIP — A Rockford woman is dead after the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office says the vehicle she was in was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver.
The suspected wrong-way driver is hospitalized with critical injuries, and another person if the vehicle that was struck sustained minor injuries.
According to a news release, the Walworth County Sheriff’s 911 Communications Center received reports about 9:15 p.m. Thursday of a reckless driver on Interstate 43 at Highway 14 in the Town of Darien.
Witnesses reported the reckless driver was traveling northbound on I-43 in the southbound lanes at a high rate of speed, according to a Walworth County Sheriff’s Office news release.
An attempt to locate was broadcast and law enforcement agencies along the I-43 corridor immediately began to search for the suspect vehicle.
City of Delavan Police located the suspect vehicle and attempted to stop it, but the driver failed to stop for the audible and visual signals to stop and continued traveling northbound in the southbound lanes, according to the sheriff’s office.
That’s when the suspect crashed head-on into a southbound vehicle near the County Highway F Bridge in the Town of Delavan.
The suspect’s vehicle caught fire and the driver and sole occupant was removed from the vehicle by a Wisconsin State Trooper.
The driver was identified as identified as Eric R. Peters, 32, from Colgate, WI. Peters was transported to a trauma center with critical injuries.
Two people were in the vehicle that Peters hit.
The passenger in the vehicle was identified as Kimberly Ann Fannan, 27, from Rockford. Fannan was transported to an area hospital where she died as a result of her injuries.
The driver, Curtis R. Washington, 44, of Rockford, sustained minor injuries.
The Walworth County Sheriff’s Patrol Division and Crash Team continue to investigate the incident and are working with the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office regarding potential criminal charges to be filed against Peters.
The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Town of Delavan Police, City of Delavan Police, Wisconsin State Patrol, Town of Delavan Fire Department, City of Delavan Fire Department, City of Elkhorn Fire Department, Walworth County Medical Examiner, Mercy Hospital MD1, and Flight for Life.