Badger Teacher Was Drunk

Shame.

A West Bend School District teacher who was one of the drivers in a Sept. 18 double-fatal crash on state Highway 144 in Farmington was intoxicated after drinking at a West Bend tavern for at least five hours prior to the collision, Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said Wednesday.

Crash investigators determined that Rachael M. Olson, 34, a sixth-grade teacher at Badger Middle School in West Bend, was at the tavern from 4 to 9 p.m. that day, Schmidt said.

Toxicology tests found that Olson, a Campbellsport resident, had a blood alcohol level of 0.24%, three times the legal threshold for intoxication. Alcohol use appears to be the cause of the crash, Schmidt said.

Olson’s vehicle was traveling southbound on Highway 144 about 9:20 p.m. Sept. 18 when it crossed fully into the opposite lane near Elm Tree Drive. Her vehicle then crashed nearly head-on into a northbound sport utility vehicle driven by Donald E. Voeks, 58, of Farmington, according to a news release.

Olson and Voeks’ wife, Bette, 60, were killed in the crash. The Voekses were trapped in their vehicle and had to be extricated. The Voekses were about three miles from home.