OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – Oshkosh Police have revealed that the 21-year-old male suspect in police custody for hit and run causing death is potentially facing an additional charge of OWI.
“A 21-year-old male from Oshkosh came into the police department to speak with officers, and he was later taken into custody for a hit and run causing death,” Officer Kate Mann said. “Alcohol may be a factor. The driver of the vehicle did say that he had been consuming alcohol earlier that evening. Right now, he was arrested for hit and run causing death. Later on there might be another charge added on, later on.”
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Family members have identified the victim as 29-year-old Ethan Luaders of Oshkosh, who leaves behind a five-year-old daughter. Police are taking this tragedy to remind the public of safe driving and steps to take at a crash scene.
“We want to remind citizens that it’s really important if they are involved in an accident that they need to stop, render aid, and notify the police department right away,” Mann said. “Looking back, we did have another hit and run causing death in January, that was on Ohio St. and 3rd Ave.”
According to officials, the suspect will likely appear in Winnebago County court this week, even as soon as Tuesday.
But for Luaders’s family and friends, a long road lies ahead for those who will miss the young man and his “one-of-a-kind” style.
“We were inseparable. We were inseparable. We spent every single day together,” Kinni Peters said of the friend she made on New Year’s Eve 2012. “Ethan was a really charismatic, care-free spirit. He was a really compassionate person. Those were some of the funnest times of my life. We went on so many adventures; every day with Ethan, everything you did with him was an adventure. It was awesome.”
Luaders traveled the country, making friends wherever his kindness landed.
“Ethan was not a rock in one place. He was definitely rolling with the wind. And he made friends literally everywhere he went,” Peters said. “He was always writing poems, or freestyling, or wearing the wildest clothes. He was just a really unique, one-of-a-kind person.”
Now, all that she has are the memories, which, cruelly, she did not think would be the final ones.
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“There’s not a person that he met that he didn’t leave a mark on, that he didn’t affect,” she said. “I will continue to look back at those memories and remember who he was, and yeah, that’s all I’ve got.”
Nothing is set up or scheduled at this time, but friends are hoping to hold a concert soon in honor of Luaders and benefit his daughter and family. Local 5 News will share more when we learn of the details.
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