GRATIOT - On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, at 1:59 a.m., the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a two vehicle crash with serious injuries that occurred in the 14,000 block of STH 11 in Gratiot Township. Lafayette County Sheriff’s Deputies were immediately dispatched along with the Gratiot Fire Department, Gratiot First Responders and Rural Medical Ambulance Service. Upon arriving at the scene, Gratiot Fire personnel requested additional ambulances from Rural Medical and Warren, Ill. Ambulance Service. Emergency flight services were also requested, but were not available due to upper atmosphere weather conditions preventing helicopter flight.
The initial investigation reveals that a 2002 Lexus passenger car driven by Cameron J. Paddock, 22, of Monticello, Iowa, was traveling eastbound on STH 11 when a westbound 2014 GMC Savannah cube van, being driven by John Drew Brewington, 23, of Salem, crossed the center line striking the Lexus.
Cameron Paddock suffered severe injury as a result of the crash and was transported by Warren EMS to Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A passenger in the vehicle with Paddock, Monika L. Gorham, 23, of Roscoe, Ill., suffered minor injuries and was transported to Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County, as was John Brewington. Both Gorham and Brewington were treated and later released from the hospital.
John Drew Brewington was taken into custody by Lafayette County Sheriff’s Deputies upon his release from the hospital and transported to the Lafayette County Jail where he is currently being held pending an appearance in Lafayette County Circuit Court. Brewington faces a tentative charge of Homicide Through Intoxicated Use of a Motor Vehicle, a class D felony, which carries a maximum sentence of a fine up to $100,000 or imprisonment up to 25 year, or both.
The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Wisconsin State Patrol’s Crash Reconstruction Unit and the Lafayette County Highway Department.
STH 11 from STH 78 South in Gratiot to STH 23 had to be closed and be re-routed from approximately 2:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. due to the crash.
The crash remains under further investigation.