Man remains in intensive care after being run over by pickup truck

Driver charged with injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle, second OWI

By Tracy Ouellette

Staff writer

A 47-year-old Union Grove man was still in intensive care at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa after being run over by a truck driven by a suspected drunken driver early Monday morning in Union Grove.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the victim, Thomas B. Craig, on the ground in a mobile home parking lot near 11th Avenue in the Village of Union Grove. According to the criminal complaint, Craig was covered with several blankets and was in pain, but was able to tell them he had been run over by a truck before rescue personnel arrived and he was transported to Froedtert Hospital in critical condition.

As of Wednesday morning, Craig was still in the intensive care unit at Froedtert with multiple injuries including several facial fractures, a collapsed lung, broken ribs and a broken leg.

Tristan E. VanScoy, 24, of Franksville, was charged with injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and operating while intoxicated – second offense – Tuesday in Racine County Court.

According to the criminal complaint: VanScoy said he ran over Craig with his Ford F-350 when leaving the parking lot at about 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. He told police he hadn’t known he’d run over Craig until his girlfriend, who is Craig’s daughter and was a passenger in the truck, got a phone call minutes after leaving the parking lot and a friend told her VanScoy had run over Craig. She told police that VanScoy turned the truck around and they returned to the parking lot right after the call.

Craig’s daughter told police that she and VanScoy had been arguing before they left the trailer where they had been drinking with some friends. She told police she hadn’t wanted VanScoy to leave because he had been drinking. She said she got into the driver’s side of the VanScoy’s truck to try to stop him from driving off but he got into the driver’s seat anyway and backed up to leave the lot. She told police she felt the truck “running over something” but thought it was only the curb. She said they were only about a block away from the parking lot when her friend called to tell her they had run over her father.

When police questioned VanScoy and asked if he ran over Craig, the criminal complaint says VanScoy said, “I must have. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.” VanScoy told police that he must have hit Craig when he was backing up to leave but didn’t know it until someone called 911.

VanScoy told police he had been at his girlfriend’s trailer all night and that they’d been arguing on and off all night so he decided to leave. He said he went outside and his girlfriend followed him and she got into his truck and refused to get out so he told her, “Fine. Then you’re going with me to my house.”

VanScoy then told police how he backed out of his parking space with a “Y-turn” like he usually did when leaving the trailer and said almost every time he did so, his front driver’s side tire goes up over the curb. VanScoy said that he had driven to the first stop sign past the parking lot when his girlfriends phone rang and her friend said they had run over Craig. VanScoy told police he immediately turned the truck around and went back to the parking lot.

VanScoy allegedly admitted to drinking “two beers and two Bloody Marys” that night when questioned by police.

The complaint states that due to the weather, VanScoy was transported to the Sheriff’s Department patrol station for standardized field sobriety tests. While in route VanScoy allegedly said he had been trying to do the right thing by leaving because of the arguments with his girlfriend and he had know idea Craig was behind his truck when he backed out. The complaint says VanScoy stated he had backed up in the same way “1,000 times” and thought he’d just hit the curb and went over it.

According to the complaint, VanScoy failed the sobriety tests at the patrol station and blew a .167 on the breathalyzer, more than two times the legal limit for driving.

If convicted of both charges, VanScoy faces up to $26,100 in fines and 13 years in prison.

VanScoy was released from Racine County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in Racine County Court next on Feb. 4 for a preliminary hearing.

Union Grove/Yorkville Fire and Rescue also responded to the scene.