Truck driver to be charged with vehicular homicide in crash that killed Clay student

Cody Van Hersett had played hockey for Clay High School. FAMILY PHOTO Enlarge

The driver of a tractor trailer involved in an accident in which a 16-year-old hockey player died will be charged Friday with vehicular homicide.

Semi driver Lyle Schmidt, 78, of Merrill, Wis., was in the eastbound lane on Navarre Avenue in Oregon, turning left on South Wynn Road, about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, when he turned into the path of a pickup truck traveling west on Navarre.

Mr. Schmidt said he did not see the truck driven by Cody Van Hersett, 16, said Lt. Hank Everitt of the Oregon Police Department.

Young Van Hersett’s pickup was wedged underneath the semi at the scene, he said.

Mr. Schmidt is expected to be charged with vehicular homicide Friday in Oregon Municipal Court, Lt. Everitt said. It is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

The semi driver will also be cited for failure to yield while turning left.

On Friday night, the Clay High School boys’ home basketball game will begin with a moment of silence for young Van Hersett, a Clay sophomore who played on the school’s hockey team for two years.

He died at the scene of the crash.

Oregon Schools Superintendent Mike Zalar said it was important for Friday’s 7 p.m. game to continue as planned so students could go back to a normal routine.

“We think it’s important for kids to be together and to talk with each other and lean on each other,” Mr. Zalar said. The game “gives a good venue for that.”

The district’s guidance counselors and local ministers were at Clay during school Friday to offer support for classmates grieving Cody, who was a popular student, the superintendent said.

The student was westbound on Navarre in a pickup when he struck a tractor-trailer, driven by Lyle Schmidt, 78, of Wisconsin, that was turning left onto Wynn. Mr. Schmidt was not injured.

The accident, which occurred at 2:27 p.m. Thursday, closed part of Navarre near Wynn Road for a few hours.