Negligent Homicide Brought In Dodge County Pedestrian Death

Minutes before a 21-year-old Reeseville man hit and killed a Juneau teen with his truck he was huffing on an inhalant. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt says they are referring homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle charges against Cody Buechel for the accident that killed 17-year-old Lukas Jaeger last September. Investigators found a can of “Dust Off” in the pickup. Schmidt says Buechel admitted to inhaling it.  “Dust Off” is something you would typically use to clean the keyboard of your computer, but it contains the kind of fumes that can get a person high. Schmidt says they took their time investigating the accident because it is considered a homicide. He says they wanted to make sure they had a good solid case. Buechel was driving on the wrong side of the road when he hit Jaeger who was walking with friends along a ditch. No one else was injured.

From The Criminal Complaint

Charges
have been filed in Dodge County Court against the 21-year-old Reeseville man
who hit and killed a Juneau
teen with his pickup truck last September. Cody Buechel is charged with
homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and two counts of possession of
drug paraphernalia. According to the criminal complaint he admitted to huffing
on a can of “Dust Off” just minutes before driving the wrong way and hitting
17-year-old Lukas Jaeger.  The can of
compressed gas is used to clean computer keyboards. Buechel initially told
investigators he was reaching for a can of soda in his pickup and took his eyes
off the road. He thought Jaeger was walking near the centerline when in fact he
was walking in the ditch line with a group of five friends. Buechel also
admitted to smoking marijuana within 24 hours of the accident. One of the
pedestrians told investigators he threw a Sunny Delight drink bottle at
Buechel’s truck trying to get his attention. Buechel
will make an initial court appearance on July 25th.