Head-on crash on 441: off-duty deputy was going the wrong way on the freeway

The Brillion News

APPLETON - An off-duty Outagamie County deputy sheriff, going southbound in the northbound lanes of State 441 in a private vehicle, collided head-on with a northbound car.

The crash happened within the City of Appleton, in the Calumet County portion of the city, at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, March 28.

Appleton Police were first on the scene and determined that it involved a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by the deputy, and a VW Golf sedan driver by another person.

The deputy apparently missed an exit ramp and turned around on the highway, setting up the tragic situation.

He suffered only minor injuries, but the driver of the VW was critically injured.

Appleton Police called in the Wisconsin State Patrol to handle the investigation. The state patrol will be doing an accident reconstruction, according to WSP Sgt. Michael Marquardt.

Troopers identified the driver of the car as 31-year old Michael Nicholson of Appleton and the driver of the pickup as 38-year old Jonathan Cvengros of Neenah.

Other emergency agencies attending the scene were the Appleton Police Department, Outagamie County Sheriff's Department, Winnebago County Sheriff's Department and Outagamie County Highway Department.

Although the incident happened in Calumet County, there was no indication that Calumet County authorities were involved in the response or the investigation.

The press release from the WSP gave no indication of which fire departments or EMS agencies attended the scene.