Traffic Stop May Have Caused Death of Wisc Man

Chippewa F

alls, WI - ( Wheeler News ) -    The Chippewa Falls police chief is defending an officer who stopped a speeding car with a passenger who had an asthma attack, and had them wait for an ambulance to take him to a hospital where he died.  Chief Wendy Stelter tells WEAU TV in Eau Claire that the officer followed the department's standard procedure.

The officer stopped the vehicle after seeing it go through a red light last Sunday.  The female driver yelled that her passenger -- 29-year-old Casey Kressin -- was having an asthma attack and had to get to an emergency room. The officer called for paramedics who arrived six minutes later.  They took him to a Chippewa Falls hospital where he died.

Stelter said it's sad that the family lost Kressin while the officer tried keeping him calm as help arrived. The chief told WEAU, "The officer feels that he did what he should have done, and I support him in that."