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Channel 27 News in the morning on April 10 said that witnesses and surveillance footage from a nearby restaurant show that Burnside was speeding down an off ramp and didn't brake when his car jumped the median strip, hit a stoplight and then a jogger on a paved trail. He immediately left the scene with other cars chasing his heavily damaged SUV. About a block away he parked in a convenience store where other cars blocked him in until police arrived. He can choose to pay a bond or wait one day and he can go free on a signature bond:
Lutheran Bishop Bruce Burnside charged in fatal crash:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/lutheran-bishop-bruce-burnside-charged-in-fatal-crash/article_55c246e1-dc69-5172-8abb-64389b44a5a0.html
Lutheran Bishop Bruce Burnside charged in fatal crash
Lutheran Bishop Bruce Burnside was charged Wednesday with three felonies and one misdemeanor in Sunday’s drunken-driving death in Sun Prairie.
Burnside, who was charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, hit and run resulting in death and homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, had a preliminary breath test reading of 0.128 percent, according to a criminal complaint. The legal limit for driving in Wisconsin is 0.08 percent.
Burnside also faces a misdemeanor hit and run charge after police say he also hit a vehicle.
A witness told police Burnside’s vehicle never braked after hitting Maureen Mengelt and appeared to be trying to flee the scene, according to the complaint.
Mengelt, 52, a married mother of three and an avid runner, was running along a blacktop path along Windsor Street in Sun Prairie where it crosses the bottom of the northbound off-ramp of Highway 151 at the time she was struck.
After allegedly hitting Mengelt, Burnside drove to a nearby Kelley’s Market convenience store, where police say they first had contact with him in his vehicle.
Burnside initially denied to police he’d been drinking, the complaint said. He told the first officer on the scene he was running late for a church ceremony.
“I was looking at my radio and adjusting,” Burnside is quoted in the complaint as telling police. “I just want to know if the woman is OK.”
A witness told police Burnside’s SUV jumped a median and hit a lamp post before striking Mengelt. Burnside’s SUV had “heavy front-end damage,” its back window was smashed and its roof was partially collapsed, the complaint said.
Bail was set at $150,000 cash if he wants to leave jail Wednesday. On Thursday, it reverts to a signature bond with no cash down so Burnside can comply with a condition of his bail, which is to enter an in-patient alcohol treatment facility.
Burnside is bishop of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He oversees 145 congregations in a 13-county area.
Church officials have said he was on his way to an afternoon ceremony at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sun Prairie.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/lutheran-bishop-bruce-burnside-charged-in-fatal-crash/article_55c246e1-dc69-5172-8abb-64389b44a5a0.html#ixzz2Q6HVApMc
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Bishop charged with killing pedestrian: Criminal complaint released Wednesday:
http://www.channel3000.com/news/Bishop-charged-with-killing-pedestrian/-/1648/19697270/-/quaet2/-/index.html
A criminal complaint has been filed against a Lutheran bishop who police say was intoxicated when he struck and killed a Sun Prairie woman with his vehicle Sunday.
Police said Bruce Burnside, 59, hit Maureen Mengelt, 52, on the northbound off-ramp of Hwy. 151 near Windsor Street, just before 3 p.m.
A Dane County judge Wednesday ordered Burnside held on $150,000 cash bail for three of the four charges against him. He's charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, hit-and-run resulting in death, homicide by negligent use of a vehicle and hit-and-run of an attended vehicle.
Emergency crews took Mengelt to St. Mary's Hospital in Sun Prairie, where she later died. The criminal complaint states Mengelt suffered multiple rib fractures and a broken pelvis.
Back at the scene of the accident, Burnside left a trail of debris -- including a downed traffic light -- while trying to get away from the crash, according to police.
Police found Burnside in his heavily-damaged Honda at a gas station about a block away from the scene of the accident. Burnside denied using drugs or alcohol to an officer at the scene, according to the complaint. The complaint states Burnside took a breath test showing a blood alcohol level of 0.128.
Maureen Mengelt
A video taken at a restaurant near the crash scene shows a vehicle speeding down the off-ramp, the collision and the vehicle leaving the scene, according to the complaint.
Burnside is a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He oversees 145 congregations in a 13-county area.
Burnside's assistant, Rev. Blake Rohrer, confirmed Wednesday Burnside remains the elected bishop of the synod.
