Truck crash into Kenosha building, driver allegedly intoxicated
KENOSHA, Wis. - A Pleasant Prairie man is accused in connection to a fatal Kenosha crash that happened July 28.
Ajay Pierangeli, 20, is charged with two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and operating while intoxicated causing injury.
Ajay Pierangeli
Kenosha police responded to an accident with injuries at Play It Again Sports on 75th Street around 3:30 a.m. on July 28. Dispatchers indicated it was a severe car crash, a criminal complaint states, and another caller indicated it was a truck-versus-building crash.
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When officers arrived at the scene, they spotted a pickup truck partially inside the storefront. Four people inside the truck were unconscious, and a fifth person in the front seat was alert, conscious and breathing. Due to the vehicle's heavy damage, the complaint states officers were not able to open the doors on the driver's side.
Kenosha firefighters removed rear seat passengers Dylan Zamora and Jenna Barrette, from the truck. The were died on the scene. The driver, Pierangeli, was removed and taken to a hospital. The fourth passenger was also hospitalized.
Kenosha fatal crash, 40th Avenue and 75th Street
Officers spoke with that fourth passenger who said he and his friends were at a "hangout" and indicated "everyone was drinking, and they had stopped about an hour ago," per the complaint. The passenger also told police he was not wearing a safety belt and did not believe anyone else in the truck was either. The passenger said, roughly 20 minutes into the drive, Pierangeli was driving eastbound on 75th Street and "lost control of the truck and crashed," the complaint said – but "was not traveling at a high rate of speed." When the officer asked the passenger how the truck crashed into the building, the complaint said he told them he "did not know they crashed into a building."
A witness, who happened to be an employee of an ambulance company, told police the truck sped off from an intersection and "began partially swerving into their lane," per the complaint. The witness estimated the truck was "traveling at 70 miles per hour and the ambulance was traveling at approximately 40 to 45 miles per hour and the pickup was pulling away." The witness also told police "he recalls the vehicle swerving very hard from the right lane into the left lane, then the front end of the vehicle jumped into the air as the rear end then followed the front going into the air."
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A second ambulance employee provided a similar statement about the actions of the person driving the pickup truck.
The complaint said a legal blood sample was withdrawn from the defendant. Doctors informed investigators Pierangeli's blood alcohol concentration was .282 – or more than three times the legal limit. He also suffered a ruptured lung and skull fracture in the wreck, the complaint said.
Court records indicate a warrant was issued for Pierangeli's arrest. However, police told FOX6 News on Aug. 17 that he was under police guard in a hospital.