KENOSHA — Blood alcohol levels for Timothy Vandervere came back at 0.316 — almost four times the legal limit — according to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department on Friday.
The District Attorney's Office did not say whether charges will be modified in an alleged drunk driving crash that killed three people and injured another last Friday in Kenosha County.
Bond was set at $2 million for Vandervere, 40.
Vandervere of Beach Park, Illinois, pleaded not guilty to all charges in his first court appearance Tuesday.
Charges include:
- Three counts of reckless homicide, a felony
- Three counts of knowingly operating a vehicle while revoked, causing death, a felony
- One count of reckless driving causing great bodily harm, a felony
- One count of knowingly operating a vehicle while revoked, causing great bodily harm, a felony
- One count of operating a vehicle while revoked, a misdemeanor
Court Commissioner Loren Keating did not take the charges lightly.
“I understand they’re allegations but they go beyond tragic," said Keating. "They’re senseless and tragic. If convictions occur, there’s a likelihood of perhaps decades of incarceration.”
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department said 67-year-old Dr. Michael Rizzo, 76-year-old Vincent Rizzo and Vincent’s 74-year-old wife, Mary, were killed in the accident Friday night in the Village of Bristol.
Michael died at the scene. Vincent and Mary died at local hospitals.
Michael and Vincent’s brother, 72-year-old Gerald, was the driver and lone survivor in their car. He was taken to the hospital with serious injures and remains in stable condition.
Sheriff David Beth said the crash happened at about 6:45 p.m. in the 21600 block of Highway 50.
The Rizzos were heading home from a fish fry in their Jeep when a white pickup truck traveling in the same direction rear-ended their car, causing it to flip over into a ditch.
