Attorney for Firefighter Charged in Crash: He Feels Remorse

CBS 58-- Charges have been filed against a Milwaukee firefighter accused in a fatal accident on the Brewer’s Opening Day in West Allis.

After a nearly two-month investigation, 31-year-old Joshua Larson is charged with two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration.

Larson told police he was at the Milwaukee Brewers’ Opening Day Game prior to the accident. Larson said he consumed four 12-ounce cans of Coors Light beer. Tests showed he had a blood alcohol content of about .172, more than twice the legal limit.

According to the criminal complaint, he drove west on Bluemound Road and then south on Hawley Road.  He was driving south on south 60th street when a silver Toyota van exited the parking lot.  He did not know if the van was turning left or right onto 60th Street, and he could only remember that the van “pulled out” in front of him.  He collided with the van, but he did not sustain any injuries. Crash reconstruction shows Larson was going about 70 MPH when he smashed in to the van.

After the accident, he got out of his truck and noticed the driver of the van was not conscious. He used a knife to cut the driver’s seat belt off. Larson said he got the driver out of the van and he then discovered that the driver did not have a pulse. He performed chest compressions on the driver. That man, Yoruba Sly-Lundasi, and his passenger, Wendell Johnson, died at the scene.

Larson’s attorney, Julius Kim, says he has not reviewed the police reports and did not want to comment on the details in the complaint. However Kim says Larson does feel horrible about what happened.

“I can tell you that a lot of things are going through his head, one of them is certainly remorse and feeling terribly for what happened,” Kim said. “Either way you cut it, regardless of the legalities here, two people did lose their lives.”

Larson is currently on paid leave from the fire department. He will be in court June 1.