Eau Claire man charged with death of DC correctional officer waives time limits, posts $75,000 cash bail
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 40-year-old Eau Claire man charged with homicide following a crash that killed a Dunn County correctional officer on December 24 has waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing and has posted a cash bail of $75,000.
Mark Allen Sokolowski was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court January 3 before Judge Luke Wagner.
Sokolowski is charged with two felony counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle in connection with a crash in the early morning hours of December 24 on U.S. Highway 12/29 and county Highway E east of Menomonie.
Three passengers in the vehicle Sokolowski was driving were injured, one with life-threatening injuries, and the driver of the other vehicle, a Dunn County correctional officer, died after Sokolowski apparently failed to stop at the intersection.
A Facebook post dated December 26 by the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department identified the deceased as Dunn County Correctional Officer Jeff Reynolds.
At the January 3 court hearing, Sokolowski’s attorney, Harry Hertel, who appeared by video, asked the court for 30 days to complete an open records request and spoke about potential issues concerning whether his client would receive a fair trial in Dunn County, according to on-line court records.
Judge Wagner set a 30-minute status hearing in the case on March 10 and said that Hertel has until January 30 to file his motions with the court, that the district attorney’s office has until February 11 to respond and that any reply is due by February 18.
Sokołowski subsequently waived the limits for a speedy preliminary hearing.
Judge Wagner set bail at $75,000 cash for Sokolowski December 26.
Sokołowski posted $74,600 in cash January 2 and posted $400 in cash on January 3.
Homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle is a Class D felony that, upon conviction, carries a possible penalty of up to 25 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000.
Criminal complaint
A Dunn County deputy was traveling westbound on Highway 12 on December 24, 2024, at 2:45 a.m. and observed a vehicle leave the roadway and strike some trees at the intersection of Highway 12/29 and county Highway E in the Town of Red Cedar, according to the criminal complaint.
A sergeant with the sheriff’s department also was traveling west on Highway 12.
The deputy who had been following a westbound vehicle on Highway 12, upon approaching the intersection, saw a northbound vehicle on Highway E south of the intersection traveling at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle on Highway E failed to stop at the posted stop sign and caused a collision with the westbound vehicle.
The deputy could not at first identify which vehicle had been traveling in which direction, the complaint states.
The sergeant observed a large white SUV, later identified as a white 2018 Ford Expedition, that had crashed into some trees on the northwest side of the intersection and that had extensive front end damage and roof damage.
The Ford Expedition later was determined to be registered to Mark Sokolowski, according to the criminal complaint.
While the deputy attended to the occupants of the Ford Expedition, the sergeant scanned the area for any hazards, such as downed power lines, and then noticed the undercarriage of another vehicle 30 to 40 yards north of the Ford Expedition, the complaint states.
Subaru
The second vehicle, a 2013 Red Subaru Outback, was overturned, was resting on its roof, and had extensive damage to driver’s side and to the roof, according to the criminal complaint.
The sergeant observed the legs of an occupant through a broken window close to the ground, and the occupant was not moving and not making any noise.
The sergeant was unable to find a pulse, and the occupant was not responding to any stimuli.
The sergeant noted that the occupant was wearing 5.11 tactical pants and black duty-style boots, according to the criminal complaint.
When the sergeant looked into the passenger side window, he recognized the victim as a correctional officer at the Dunn County Jail.
The victim was bleeding from his face and ears, his skin was pale, and his chest was not rising, the complaint states.
The sergeant knew the victim was likely deceased and noted that the victim was still in the driver’s seat, that his seatbelt was fastened and that he was wearing a Dunn County jail uniform, according to the criminal complaint.
Sokolowski
The deputy maintained contact with the occupants of the Expedition, which included a man seated in the driver’s seat and identified as the registered owner of the Expedition, Mark Sokolowski, according to the criminal complaint.
Sokolowski told the deputy that he was the designated driver.
A passenger occupied the front passenger seat and two passengers were in the back seat.
EMS immediately transported the female passenger from the front seat, who had life-threatening injuries.
The two passengers in the back seat also were transported from the scene with non-life-threatening injuries.
Sokolowski declined medical attention.
Since the crash involved a fatality, and the deceased was an employee of the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department, the Wisconsin State Patrol handled the crash investigation.
Deputies on the scene noted that Sokolowski appeared to have been using alcohol, and the deputies began an operating-while-intoxicated investigation but stopped when it was determined that the State Patrol would take over the investigation.
Cameras
Investigators searched cameras posted on Highway 12/29 facing westbound located on the west side of Interstate-94 at Exit 52 and on Highway E facing northbound west of the intersection with county Highway H, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators saw that the Subaru operated by Reynolds was captured on the Highway 12/29 License Plate Recognition (LPR) camera at 2:38 a.m. December 24 traveling westbound.
The Expedition Sokolowski was driving was captured on the Highway E LPR camera at 2:30 a.m. traveling northbound, according to the criminal complaint.
The images and time/date stamps confirmed that the Reynold’s Subaru was traveling westbound on Highway 12/29, and Sokolowski’s Expedition was traveling northbound on Highway E, the complaint states.
Intoxicants
A Wisconsin State Patrol Trooper responded to the crash scene at 3:45 a.m.
Sokolowski was seated in the back seat of a Dunn County deputy’s squad vehicle, and when the door to the squad was opened, the trooper could detect the odor of intoxicants coming from Sokolowski, according to the criminal complaint.
Since there were flashing lights from emergency vehicles, and the scene was still being investigated, the State Patrol trooper transported Sokolowski to Mayo Hospital in Menomonie to perform standard field sobriety tests.
The trooper and Sokolowski reached the hospital at about 4:10 a.m.
The trooper got Sokolowski out the State Patrol cruiser and asked him to stand in front of the cruiser in view of the dash camera. Two officers from the Menomonie Police Department also were present, according to the criminal complain.
Sokolowski told the trooper that he had consumed “a couple of glasses of bourbon,” and when asked to specify, said he had consumed a glass and a half of straight bourbon with ice.
Sokolowski was unable to specify the number of shots of bourbon. He told the trooper he had consumed the bourbon during the Green Bay Packer’s football game, which had started around 7:30 or 8 p.m., and that he had been at his house in Eau Claire. He also said that he had drank three beers during the game, too, according to the criminal complaint.
When the trooper asked if he had drank nothing after the Packer game, Sokolowski replied “Yep” and said that his children had gone to bed but that he had not gone to bed, the complaint states.
Nowhere
When the trooper asked Sokolowski where he had been going, Sokolowski said, “I wasn’t going anywhere,” according to the criminal complaint.
The trooper pointed out that Sokolowski had been driving and had been involved in a crash, so he must have been going somewhere.
Sokolowski said the two men who were passengers had been at a bar in Altoona, that he had picked them up to give them a ride to Menomonie and that their vehicles were at Sokolowski’s house in Eau Claire, the complaint states.
Field sobriety tests
Sokolowski told the trooper that he had hit his head during the crash, and when the trooper asked if he was feeling dizzy, Sokolowski said “he was sore as hell” and pointed to locations on his head and his body where he felt sore, according to the criminal complaint.
Even though he had been in a crash, Sokolowski told the trooper that there were no issues that would affect his performance in the field sobriety tests, the complaint states.
During the first field sobriety test, the state trooper did observe some nystagmus in both of Sokolowski’s eyes.
“Nystagmus” is defined as involuntary, repetitive eye movement.
During the walk-and-turn with nine heel-to-toe steps, the trooper asked if Sokolowski would be able to do that with his injuries, and Sokolowski replied “absolutely,” according to the criminal complaint.
Sokolowski then pointed out his injuries again, and the trooper asked again if Sokolowski thought he could do it, and Sokolowski replied, “I honestly think I can do it.”
The trooper told Sokolowski that after the test was explained and if he felt as if he could not do it, then he should tell the trooper.
The trooper demonstrated the task, and then Sokolowski took 10 steps down and 10 steps back and performed an improper turn. After the first nine steps, Sokolowski told the trooper, “I’m going to go to 10,” the complaint states.
One leg
The next test was the one-leg-stand test, which the trooper demonstrated for Sokolowski, who raised his right foot and reached the count of 27, according to the criminal complaint.
The preliminary breath test Sokolowski provided indicated a blood alcohol content of 0.152, according to the criminal complaint.
The trooper placed Sokolowski under arrest, and then asked if he would submit to a blood test, to which Sokolowski replied, “Yeah.”
Two vials of blood were drawn from Sokolowski’s arm at about 4:51 a.m., and while he was in the hospital blood draw room, Sokolowski said he had drank six beers, which was different from what he had said earlier, the complaint states.
After Sokolowski was medically cleared, he was transported to the Eau Claire County jail.
Passenger 2
Another Wisconsin State Patrol trooper interviewed the two passengers in Sokolowski’s vehicle, who also were at Mayo Hospital in Menomonie.
Passenger 2 said he did not remember much about the crash but said he remembered seeing headlights to the right and then blacked out on impact, according to the criminal complaint.
Passenger 2 said he remembered regaining consciousness and seeing lights and first responders, that he was seated behind Sokolowski and that Passenger 3 was seated behind the passenger in the front seat.
Passenger 2, who said he was not wearing a seatbelt, was in the third row of seats, and Passenger 3 ended up on the floor in the second row.
Passenger 2 told the trooper that they were coming from a bar in the Eau Claire area but was not sure where they were going and thought they were going back to the driver’s house in Eau Claire, according to the criminal complaint.
Passenger 2 did not know the name of the bar or where it was in relation to Eau Claire.
He also was not sure how long he had been in the vehicle but that they had left the bar at “bar time bar close” and estimated the time of the crash at 2:30 a.m.
Passenger 2 told the trooper that Sokolowski and the passenger in the front seat were drinking at the bar and that he thought Sokolowski was drinking Busch Light and that the front seat passenger was drinking Twisted Tea Light.
Sokolowski and the front seat passenger tried to get Passenger 2 to “do a shot of Rumple Minze” [peppermint schnapps] prior to leaving the bar, Passenger 2 said, and also said that all four of them had been drinking at the Sokolowski residence before going to the bar, according to the criminal complaint.
Passenger 3
Passenger 3 told the trooper he believed that he had his seatbelt on, but when he woke up, he was on the floor in the second row with his feet hanging out of the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.
Passenger 3 said he remembered “driving” and then waking up when people were asking if he was okay. He estimated the time of the crash to be about 3 a.m. and thought they had been in the vehicle for about 10 minutes.
Passenger 3 said he did not know where they were going but that they had come from the Eau Claire/Altoona area and confirmed that all four of them had been drinking at the Sokolowski residence and at the bar, the complaint states.
Passenger 3 said that he and Passenger 2 had gone to Sokolowski’s house to watch the Packer game, and when the game was over, they went to the Happy Hollow Bar.
The front seat passenger drove to Happy Hollow, and Sokolowski drove after leaving Happy Hollow, Passenger 3 said, and noted that he thought they had left the bar after bar close.
When asked how they had determined who would be driving, Passenger 3 said “sobriety” and “who was the most sober,” according to the criminal complaint.
How many/how fast
Passenger 3 said Sokolowski did not have many drinks at the bar, and when the trooper asked how they had determined who was the most sober, Passenger 3 said they had “based it on how many and how fast you drank,” according to the criminal complaint.
Passenger 3 said he thought Sokolowski was drinking Busch Light at the bar and that the front seat passenger was drinking Twisted Tea Light, and Passenger 2 was drinking Crown Apple and 7-Up, the complaint states.
Passenger 3 said he was not drinking at the bar because he is 20 years old. Mayo had checked his blood alcohol content when he arrived at the emergency room, and Passenger 3 said he thought his blood alcohol content was at .101, the complaint states.
When the trooper asked if Passenger 3 thought Sokolowski was okay to drive, Passenger 3 said, “out of everyone in the vehicle, yes. He was the most sober one,” according to the criminal complaint.
