Driver of Van Charged in Crash Fatal to 7

The driver of a speeding van that crashed and killed seven magazine salespeople was charged Friday with vehicular homicide.

Jeremy Holmes, 20, of Clinton, Iowa, is accused of rolling the van Thursday when he tried to switch places with a passenger after passing a police officer. Police said Holmes had so many tickets for speeding and other violations he was not supposed to be driving in Wisconsin.

Six people were killed; a seventh died Friday at a hospital.

Holmes is being held on bail. A lawyer who represented him at his initial court appearance said Holmes received a hard blow to the head in the accident and was not aware of what happened.

“I think everyone has conceded that this was something of a terrible, terrible accident,” attorney John Bergstrom said. “They’re not truly looking at criminal intent--something just plain went wrong.”

The van, which police said was going at least 80 mph, was full of salespeople, ages 15 to 25, who were from as far away as Florida. They were heading to a Janesville motel, where they had stayed for two weeks while they went on sales outings.

Seven others in the van were injured, five critically. Holmes was charged with multiple counts of negligent vehicular homicide and causing great bodily harm.

Police said the salespeople worked for Yes, which in ads promised “absolute fun.” The Capital Times of Madison, one of the newspapers that ran the ads, reported that the phone number on the classified ad bill is that of Subscriptions Plus Inc. of Bethany, Okla.