Wisc. man held in fatal hit-and-run in Ingleside [Lake County, IL]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=150826

Wisc. man held in fatal hit-and-run in Ingleside
By Lee Filas | Daily Herald Staff Writer
Published: 3/10/2008 3:57 PM | Updated: 3/10/2008 7:24 PM

A 35-year-old Wisconsin man is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond, charged
with killing a man in a hit-and-run accident in early February, Lake County
sheriff officials said Monday.

Lake County sheriff's police spokesman Sgt. Christopher Thompson said Jeffrey
M. Terlap of Trevor, Wis., is being held in the Lake County Jail. He is
accused of hitting and killing John P. Brink, 25, of Cary with a 1998 Ford
Explorer on Route 59, just west of Wilson Road in Ingleside.

Terlap turned himself over to sheriff's deputies at 9:45 a.m. Monday in
response to a warrant issued for his arrest, Thompson said. He has been
charged with failure to report an accident involving death, a felony.

John Brink was bicycling on Route 59 about 9:15 p.m. Feb. 9, heading to a
nearby convenience store for cigarettes. Thompson said Brink was hit by a
truck recently purchased by Terlap, and Brink was killed and Terlap fled.

Thompson said investigators recovered vehicle parts from the scene and traced
them, eventually discovering the type and color of the vehicle in the
hit-and-run.

He said investigators checked records of all 1997-98 Ford Explorers in the
northern Illinois area. The officers then interviewed each truck owner and,
one by one, discounted each vehicle, Thompson said.

But police could not discount the truck purchased Jan. 8 by Terlap, he said.

Police also uncovered surveillance video at a gas station showing Terlap
filling up his tank moments before the accident took place, Thompson said.

Police contacted the original owner of the Ford Explorer, and he was able to
identify Terlap as the buyer, Thompson said.

From there, investigators discovered Terlap quit his job suddenly Feb. 11
and, Thompson said, fled to his sister's house in Virginia.

Working with police officials in Virginia, officials seized Terlap's vehicle,
which he left behind before fleeing again.

A warrant was issued for Terlap after the parts obtained in the accident
matched with the seized vehicle.

"I want to commend the tireless efforts of Lt. John Jonsky, Sgt. Ed Haras
and Deputy John Vinson with this investigation," Lake County Sheriff Mark
Curran said. "This was police work at its finest."

--

Kristian Zoerhoff

On Mar 11, 11:27*am, Kristian M Zoerhoff
wrote:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=150826

Wisc. man held in fatal hit-and-run in Ingleside
By Lee Filas | Daily Herald Staff Writer
Published: 3/10/2008 3:57 PM | Updated: 3/10/2008 7:24 PM

A 35-year-old Wisconsin man is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond, charged
with killing a man in a hit-and-run accident in early February, Lake County
sheriff officials said Monday.



...we had a local kid (upstate NY) killed in a similar fashion. Hit so
hard he was decaptitated... The driver, Kyle Bradley (google him for
details), apparently drunk and speeding, left the scene before police
got there, turned himself in later, and got off with well under ten
years in prison. Kid was biking at night without a light.

...and so, after 20+ years of biking at night without lights, I have
repented and put lights on my ride.