GRATIOT, Wis. -- Two men are dead and a woman emotionally shaken following a fight and a car accident on a rural Wisconsin road that one law enforcement official summed up as "bizarre."
Avari D. Baker, 27, and Leonard L. Harris, 32, of Freeport, Ill., were killed late Wednesday on Wisconsin 78 when they were struck by a vehicle as they fought in the roadway, according to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department.
"This is bizarre," Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley pointedly said.
The men had been passengers in a vehicle heading south on 78. An argument occurred at around 11:30 p.m., and the driver of the vehicle, Sharon L. Andrews, 32, of Darlington, stopped the car.
"(She) had them get out because of their arguing and fighting," Pedley said. "They exited and the fight escalated on the highway. Eventually they went to the ground in a prone position and they were on the ground fighting on the pavement of the northbound lane."
That's when a northbound car driven by Carrie A. Thompson, 33, of Monroe, struck the combatants.
Pedley said Baker and Harris sustained severe injuries and died at the scene.
Thompson was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Two children in her vehicle were not injured.
The sheriff said Thompson was understandably distraught following the incident, but he assured her that investigators have determined that the collision was "tragically unavoidable."
"This occurred during hours of darkness, and these two were wearing dark-colored clothing," Pedley said. "Our conclusion is that any reasonable person driving into a situation like that also would have been unable to avoid colliding with people fighting in the dark."
Andrews, who Pedley said is the girlfriend of one of the deceased, was cited for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants, pending toxicology results. The case has been referred to the Lafayette County District Attorney's Office.
"In the 20 years I have served here as the sheriff, we have not had and I cannot recall in this county having a case quite like this where individuals chose to use a public roadway as a fighting zone and have them killed as a result of making that poor choice," Pedley said.
