DUI case dropped against Lake in the Hills cop
No criminal charges will be filed against the Lake in the Hills police sergeant who hit and killed a Lake Geneva woman with his car in December.
Sgt. Mark Mogan, also a Hebron trustee, had a blood alcohol content "well below" the legal threshold of .08 at the time of the crash, according to the district attorney in Walworth County, Wisconsin.
Mogan drank two beers hours before the Dec. 27 accident on Edwards Boulevard, south of Highway 50 in Lake Geneva, prosecutors said.
Mogan, 49, refused a Breathalyzer and field sobriety test and was taken to the Walworth County jail, where he refused also to provide a blood sample. Police later obtained a search warrant for Mogan's blood and collected a sample at the police station.
In February, a Wisconsin judge revoked Mogan's driver's license for a year for his refusal, which in Wisconsin can result in civil penalties. He also is ordered to install an ignition interlock device during that time and undergo mandatory alcohol or substance abuse assessment, per the judge's ruling.
"The blood test results show that there were not alcohol or drugs in the defendant's system at the time the sample was collected," Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld wrote in a March 16 letter to the Lake Geneva police chief.
"Cellphone records were obtained for Mogan's phone and indicate that he was not texting or talking on the cellphone at the time of the crash. There is no evidence of distracted driving, other than the crash itself," Wiedenfeld wrote.
Mogan's car struck pedestrian Samantha Norris, 29, who was crossing the road. Norris was taken to Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn and later flown to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where she died Dec. 29, according to Lake Geneva police Lt. Edward Gritzner.
Mogan, a 23-year veteran of the Lake in the Hills force, initially was placed on administrative leave and later assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of court proceedings. He resumed his duties as a patrol officer after the case was terminated, Lake in the Hills public information officer Amanda Schmitt said.
Though not allowed to drive in Wisconsin, "as of today's date Sgt. Mogan does have a current and valid Illinois driver's license," Schmitt said.
"Should there be any status change with Illinois, we would re-evaluate at that time," she added.
Mogan also is challenging Hebron Village President John Jacobson for the seat on Tuesday. Jacobson is facing drug and gun charges from an arrest in March, according to media reports.