Weeks Meeting with Doyle

August 11, 1995

Family gathered 2,000 signatures in petition drive for investigator

By MISTIQUE MACOMBER

Tribune Staff Writer

Attorney General James Doyle has agreed to meet with the family of Deidre Week, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in March.

David Week, Deidre’s father, said Doyle’s office returned his call Thursday and set up a meeting for next Thursday to discuss the possibility of putting a special investigator on the case.

“The attorney general believes that he has an obligation to meet with people under these circumstances, and he has agreed to meet with them,” said Jim Haney, public relations officer in the attorney general’s office.

Haney declined to comment on the possible outcome of it.

Deidre, 11, was killed March 24 when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bicycle northbound on County Trunk HH, near her home north of Vesper.

The Weeks began circulating petitions last weekend, asking Doyle to urge the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation to assign a special investigator.

“Someone needs to come to Wood County, to talk to witnesses,” the petition states. About 2,000 signatures have been collected,” Week said.

“It’s overwhelming how many signed this,” he said. “It’s just amazing how people feel. There’s something wrong here.”

The Weeks are asking for a special investigator to look at discrepancies in witness statements about the events of the evening of March 24.

“We at least want to have someone answer our questions here that Wood County (Sheriff’s Department) is not doing,” Week said. “They’re not really concerned if our questions are answered or not.

“Wood County knows a lot of parts that bother us, and they’re not addressing the issue,”

“Early on in the investigation, we knew that the Week family was interested in having DCI involved because of their lack of faith in the sheriff’s department,” said Robert Levendoske, lieutenant in charge of investigations with the department.

“I had talked to the director of the criminal investigative unit of DCI on more than one occasion and discussed the case, and it was his view at the time, based on the facts of the case, that it would be best handled by the local authorities.

“If the attorney general directs DCI to become involved, they will. We’ve worked with DCI in the past and have no problem with working them on any case in the future.”

Week said statements made by Jim Vruwink, an eyewitness to the March 24 accident, don’t “go along with what about 30 people down this road said. If we look into Jim Vruwink’s story… I think we can find out who hit Deidre.”

Vruwink passed a polygraph test May 11.

If a special investigator in not assigned, Week said he will continue to press for one and will work toward getting legislation passed that makes it a crime to leave an accident scene, even as a bystander.