By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
The Racine County Sheriff’s Department has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Waterford man who allegedly pushed a woman from a moving vehicle in the Village of Waterford Aug. 11.
Benjamin W. Evenson, 25, has been charged with second degree reckless endangerment and battery. Police have been unable to locate Evenson as of press time, but say charges have been filed due to the severity of the victim’s injuries.
According to the criminal complaint, Waterford police and a sheriff’s deputy responded to a rescue run at the intersection of Jefferson and Washington streets in Waterford Aug. 11. A witness reported to police that she had found an injured woman lying in the middle of the road but the woman had left the scene before police arrived, heading southbound on Jefferson.
Police were searching for the injured woman when they were informed via radio that she was at a Jefferson Street apartment. Upon arriving, police observed what appeared to be road rash on her left shoulder and both hips. The victim told police she had been thrown from a vehicle and had a “large lump” on her head. Police told her to “stop moving around” and emergency personnel were called to evaluate her injuries.
While waiting for them, the victim told police Evenson had thrown her from the truck he was driving, which belonged to a former girlfriend of his. She said she didn’t know how fast the truck was going at the time, just that he “took off from the light” at the intersection of W. Main and Jefferson streets. She told police she lost consciousness after being shoved from the truck and “woke up in the middle of the intersection to a woman with a child talking to her.”
She told police she left the scene because she didn’t want to “get in trouble with the Army.”
The victim was transported to the hospital after rescue workers arrived and discovered a large contusion on the back of her head and that she had lost consciousness.
After being evaluated and treated by medical staff, the victim told police that she and Evenson had been driving to her apartment in Waterford after spending the day drinking and boating in Illinois with friends. She said Evenson was driving and they had just turned off Main Street heading south on Jefferson when Evenson used his right hand to “slam her head into the passenger side window.” She told police he then reached over and opened the passenger-side door and pushed her out of the vehicle.
She told police she was worried she would be disciplined by the Army for the incident, so she had left the scene. She said she hadn’t given Evenson reason to harm her and that she “was afraid she was going to die” when he pushed her out of the truck. She told police she hadn’t provoked Evenson and that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that she believed he is “just psycho.”
Police documented the victim’s multiple injuries, including the head injury that made if difficult for her to complete a voluntary statement form due to the severe headache and confusion she was suffering. The victim dictated the information to her mother, who wrote it down for her.
Police attempts to locate Evenson have met with “negative results.” Although his address is listed in Waterford, the victim told police he was actually living in the Hales Corners area. The Sheriff’s Department sent an ATL (attempt to locate) to Milwaukee police, which has also been unsuccessful, as of press time.
If convicted, Evenson, could face up $35,000 in fines and/or 13 1/2 years in jail.
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