What did Scott Farmer do? A driver was charged in Waupaca county crash that left 4 dead
Scott Farmer, aged 47 and hailing from Neenah, was apprehended following a tragic wrong-way collision in Waupaca County that claimed the lives of four young siblings during the weekend.
The incident unfolded when officers from the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash at 9:13 pm on Saturday, December 16.
According to law enforcement, Farmer was operating a pickup truck heading west in the eastbound lane on Highway 10 in Weyauwega. The truck collided head-on with an eastbound SUV carrying four passengers.
Tragically, three individuals were declared dead at the crash site, while the fourth victim, initially in critical condition, succumbed to injuries at a local hospital.
Farmer, who sustained critical injuries himself, was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Scott Farmer, with four prior OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) convictions, now faces charges of four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle.
During his initial court appearance on Monday, prosecutors revealed Farmer’s history of four prior OWI convictions and asserted that his license had been revoked at the time of the accident.
The prosecution, requesting a cash bond of $4 million, argued that Farmer, who exhibited combative behavior when authorities attempted to extract him from his vehicle, had a three-quarters full bottle of vodka at his side, as reported by NBC 26.
Following the judge’s decision to set Farmer’s cash bond at $750,000, the stepfather of the victims, Kurt Schilling, spoke in court, expressing concern that the suspect might pose a continued threat to innocent lives if released. NBC 7 quoted Schilling as saying:
“A known felon, who has done this multiple times, has the ability possibly, economically, to get out of jail again.
I know we will get through this somehow, but we won’t have a future with our children, with any grandchildren. And we’ll never get over the hurt and loss that we have, and how can I explain to my wife that her children are gone?”
The four siblings who lost their lives in the tragic crash were identified as Daniel, Fabian, Lilian, and Daniela Gonzalez.
The victims were returning home from a shopping trip when their SUV collided with Farmer’s pickup truck. A GoFundMe campaign has been initiated to provide financial support to the grieving families, shedding light on the aspirations and occupations of the siblings.
Daniel, 25, and Fabian, 23, worked as milk technicians in a local dairy farm, while Lilian, 14, was a ninth-grade student in the Weyauwega-Fremont School District, and Daniela Gonzalez, 9, was in the fourth grade. In a statement to NBC 7, the victims’ mother, Paulina Gonzalez, expressed profound grief:
“I have my heart broken at this moment as a mother, [their] memories will live with me forever. We had big projects and dreams.
They were good kids, responsible, respectful.”
