Neillsville Man Found Guilty After Jury Trial for Chain Reaction Crash

Friday, August 13th, 2021 -- 10:00 AM

 A Neillsville man charged for causing a chain reaction crash that resulted in the death of a Granton man was found guilty by a jury on Thursday.

Back in July of 2017, three vehicles were stopped behind a semi on Highway 10 in the Township of Grant due to construction work. As they were waiting, another semi, driven by Roger Waltemate, was traveling east when he struck the rear most vehicle, a Jeep Liberty driven by 47-year-old Anthony Phipps.

The Jeep came to rest in the ditch and the semi hit a Dodge Caravan, which caused it to hit the first vehicle in line, a Mercury Sable. The semi that was ahead of the Sable saw the other semi coming and had moved out of the way. Anthony Phipps was killed in the accident.

Waltemate had a jury trial this week.  Yesterday, he was found guilty, by the jury, of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, and 5 counts of 2nd degree recklessly endangering safety.  He’s scheduled for sentencing on October 27th.

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