A wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed in response to the tragic death of two parents in Green Bay, Wisconsin, who died in a car crash in 2016. The accident occurred on a Friday evening in February 2016 when a Dodge Durango flew through a stop sign going 55 mph and slammed into a Saab driven by James and Wendy Rush. The driver of the Dodge Durango was Daniel Boucher, who was 27-years-old at the time of the accident, according to the police report.
A wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed in response to the tragic death of two parents in Green Bay, Wisconsin, who died in a car crash in 2016. The accident occurred on a Friday evening in February 2016 when a Dodge Durango flew through a stop sign going 55 mph and slammed into a Saab driven by James and Wendy Rush. The driver of the Dodge Durango was Daniel Boucher, who was 27-years-old at the time of the accident, according to the police report.
Shortly after the accident, Boucher pleaded no contest to a variety of charges that included OWI and reckless homicide. The night of the crash, his blood-alcohol level was .206, more than twice the legal limit. As a result, he was sentenced to more than 30 years behind bars. However, the lawsuit, which was filed by the “Rushes’ two children and their parents’ estate,” argues that “Boucher was not the only person negligent in connection with the crash.” In addition to naming Boucher in the wrongful death lawsuit, his then-fiancee’s mother, Mary Kaminecki is named as well.
According to the lawsuit, Kaminecki “saw Boucher using alcohol, knew or should have known that he was intoxicated, and ‘directed’ him to drive her vehicle.” It turns out, the Durango that Boucher crashed into the Rush’s belonged to Kaminecki. The night of the accident, Kaminecki, her daughter, and Boucher were drinking together before Boucher got behind the wheel of the Durango.
At the time, Kaminecki wasn’t charged in the case, and to this day she denies “any blame for the crash.” Brown County District Attorney David Lasee also chimed in saying, “Ms. Kaminecki was not charged with a criminal offense in this instance because we do not believe there would be a legal basis for such a charge in a criminal case.”
When discussing the night of the accident, Kaminecki said:
“I absolutely did not hand him my keys and say, ‘Here Dan, take my vehicle and drive it…I set my keys on the kitchen table at the house I was at, which was more than Dan and Tera there, and I said, ‘Make sure my vehicle gets home because I have to work tomorrow afternoon.’ I never gave any specific time, no timeframe, except, the next afternoon.”
In a police recording from the night of the accident, Kaminecki also told officers that she didn’t think Boucher was drunk before she left the gathering with a friend.
Despite not being charged in the case, attorney Avi Berk argued that Kaminecke was still a responsible party in the accident. She said, “If you let somebody use your vehicle, and you know that that person has been drinking to excess, then you are taking a risk that you will be held responsible as well.”
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