FOND DU LAC, Wis. — A Fond du Lac County man accused of huffing duster spray before he crashed into a Verizon store pleaded not guilty on Friday. He’s accused of hurting five people in this crash.
Staring down the camera and shaking his head, 20-year-old Benjamin Ayer faced a judge Friday, who said there is enough evidence for a trial.
Andrew Roberts, was inside the store with his wife and three children when the crash happened, “You look up and you see someone flying through the air that just got hit by a car coming through a wall, you know? Now the kids are traumatized from seeing what they saw.”
A Fond du Lac police officer testified during Friday’s preliminary hearing that it was chaos when he arrived on the scene. He said Ayer admitted to huffing duster spray at a nearby parking lot before getting behind the wheel. The officer also noticed Ayer had pinpoint pupils and his speech was slow.
His defense attorney Kirk W. Everson had a different theory, “This could have very well been an independent medical condition emergency or something like that.”
Roberts said after court, “No way. Not a chance. There’s no way there was a medical emergency.”
Jill Norton was seriously injured in this crash. She told TMJ4 News by phone she is moving to an inpatient rehab facility Friday, “Trying to stay focused on walking again. Trying to stay positive, it's just hard to move forward or think of what you know life is going to be.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Jill afford the mounting medical bills. Court records show she was found under the suspect’s car and suffered a fractured skull, pelvis, spine, and hand.
Meanwhile, Roberts hopes more charges will be filed against Ayer, “There’s eight counts of reckless endangerment, there should be 12. Of the eight myself included, there needs to be four more for my wife and our three kids.”
TMJ4 News asked the Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney about this. He tells us this case is far from over, and to expect more charges to be filed in this case soon.
