Prescott man charged in St. Croix County with negligent homicide

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A western Wisconsin man is due in court November eighth, after he was accused of causing a fatal traffic crash while chatting on a cellphone. 65-year-old Thomas Geistfeld of Prescott was charged last week in Saint Croix County with negligent homicide and second-degree reckless homicide. Authorities said he was trying to pass a truck that was pulling a trailer, when his vehicle fish-tailed on a wet road and hit an oncoming car. The driver of that car, 37-year-old Dawn Anderson of New Richmond, was killed. The crash happened in late September of last year on Saint Croix County Trunk “I” in the town of Joseph. A reconstruction team found that Geistfeld was driving from 73-to-94-miles-an-hour in a 55-zone. Officials said Geistfeld threw down his cellphone to try-and-get his vehicle back under control. State lawmakers have occasionally talked about banning cellphone use behind-the-wheel – but a statewide bill has never been introduced, although some communities ban the practice. Wisconsin did ban drivers from writing-and-reading text messages in 2010.

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