A Hartford man has been found guilty of two of three charges in a crash that killed a Van Buren County Road Commission worker last year.
Logan Brown was charged with drunk driving causing death, operating in a work zone causing death, and driving without insurance in the death of 58-year-old Rene Rangel of Dowagiac. A jury Monday returned guilty verdicts on the charges of operating in a work zone causing death and driving without insurance. Logan was found not guilty of drunk driving.
Rene Rangel had been working in a construction zone in Lawrence Township on March 3 of last year when he was struck by Logan’s vehicle.
Van Buren County Road Commission Managing Director Bret Witkowski tells road commission staff watched Logan’s four-day trial closely. He says the mood is somber.
“I’m not sure if it really brings peace, it’s just maybe the knowledge with sentencing in April, the person who caused the needless death of Rene will have to sit in jail and have to think about what he’s caused,” Witkowski said.
Police say Logan failed to follow traffic controls and struck Rangel while trying to pass another vehicle in the construction zone. Now that he’s been found guilty in the crash, Witkowski says the case is a reminder to all drivers to be careful on work zones.
“Rene never left his house that Friday morning thinking, ‘This is my last day,’ he never left the garage here in Lawrence thinking this was his last day and sadly, within an hour, it was his last day.”
Logan faces up to 15 years in prison. He’ll be sentenced in April.
Witkowski says the close-knit staff at the Van Buren County Road Commission will now have a chance to heal. He says the community really came together to support Rangel’s family after he was killed.
