CF man admits to hit-and-run with stolen vehicle – Leader-Telegram

A Chippewa Falls man will be sentenced Dec. 9 for stealing a pickup truck and driving it into another vehicle, injuring a man in Eau Claire.

Police said Byer W. Nevins was also intoxicated at the time of the incident.

Nevins, 23, 627 W. Central St., pleaded no contest recently in Eau Claire County Court to felony counts of hit and run causing great bodily harm and operating a motor vehicle without the owners consent.

Felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, second-offense drunken driving causing injury and knowingly operating while revoked, and four misdemeanor counts of bail jumping were dismissed but can be considered at sentencing.

Judge Michael Schumacher ordered a pre-sentence investigation by the state Department of Corrections.

Nevins could be sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.

According to the criminal complaint:

Nevins and a 14-year-old acquaintance went car shopping on Aug. 7 looking for unlocked cars with keys in them on Pomona Drive in the town of Washington. They found a Chevy Silverado with the keys inside, and Nevins drove to pick up a 16-year-old friend. The trio then went to Bloomer to switch license plates with another vehicle. Surveillance video from a Bloomer convenience store showed the three stopping to put gas into the truck.

With Nevins driving, the trio returned to Eau Claire and were involved in two hit-and-run incidents reported on the citys north side. One of those crashes injured a man in his early 70s, breaking his sternum and back when the Silverado rear-ended his Mercury Grand Marquis at about 7:50 a.m. on the North Crossing.

The truck sped away from the crash site, but witnesses then reported seeing it in the vicinity. They told police three people got out of the truck, wiped down the sides and threw a bottle of alcohol into bushes before running away.

Police apprehended Nevins and the teens shortly afterward. When police found Nevins, he was having trouble standing, smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. Officers took him to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire for medical clearance and a blood draw to determine his alcohol level.

The juveniles told police that Nevins had been driving the whole time.

Nevins had drunken driving convictions in 2016 and 2018 in Chippewa County, plus other pending cases that required that he not consume alcohol while out on bond. His driving privileges also had been revoked.

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CF man admits to hit-and-run with stolen vehicle - Leader-Telegram