Author: Sam Buisman

The Wisconsin Department of Justice opens an investigation into an officer-involved death in the Madison area.

According to the City of Monona Police Department, the department requested the DOJ to investigate the possible connection between a high-speed car crash on Saturday and a dead body found in a nearby lagoon on Monday. The DOJ announced their investigation into this incident, which it labeled an “officer involved death,” on Tuesday afternoon.

While the Monona Police Department released a statement clarifying that incident is not an officer-involved shooting, there is little explanation as to why this incident has been classified as an officer-involved death.

According to summaries of the incident from both the Monona PD and the DOJ, early Saturday morning Monona police officers spotted a vehicle related to previous violent crimes in the city driving at blinding speeds before crashing into a tree. Officers saw one person leave the wrecked car and run away but were not able to track them down, even with a K9 search team.

Later, on Monday, a body washed up in a lagoon near the 500 block of River Place Drive, four blocks from the crash site, which police determined to be the owner of some of the property inside of the crashed car.

According to the DOJ, all officers involved with this case have been put on administrative leave and are cooperating with investigators.

Wisconsin law defines “officer-involved death” as “a death of an individual that results directly from an action or an omission of a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is on duty or while the law enforcement officer is off duty but performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.”

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Dane County Crime Stoppers at (608) 266-6014 or contact them online at www.p3intel.com.