Firefighter charged in fatal crash
10:21 PM 12/26/02
Jody Lindstrom Beaver Dam Daily Citizen

JUNEAU - The family of 17-year-old James Gengler has wondered for months who struck and killed him as he biked home from work one September evening - and then left without taking responsibility.

On Thursday, Moose Balian, 44, of the town of Lebanon made his initial appearance in Dodge County Circuit Court on a charge of failing to stop at the scene of an accident after hitting a person.

Balian, a town of Lebanon firefighter and emergency medical technician, was arrested Monday in Watertown. If convicted, he faces up to about seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Balian appeared from jail via a video-monitor conferencing flanked by his lawyer, Mark Sweet. Appearing in the courtroom was his wife, Betty Balian, a Dodge County Board member.

Members of the Gengler family also attended, including James' mother Susan, her husband and her sister, Eve.

"We are so thankful and very grateful for everyone who did their jobs - the Wisconsin State Patrol, Sheriff-elect Todd Nehls, the Dodge County Sheriff's Department," Eve Gengler said after the hearing. "We realize that there are many families out there who never get answers or find out what happened."

James was killed Sept. 5 on Highway CW, near his home, after leaving his job at a ShopKo store. The Watertown teen died just five days into his senior year at Kradwell-Wauwatosa High School.

Throughout the investigation, police have looked for a patriot-blue Dodge Ram pickup truck that witnesses reported seeing when James was struck. In cooperation with the Chrysler Corp. the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the State Patrol, a nationwide search was conducted for the truck.

The search turned up 20,000 trucks, and that list was pared to about 40 in the general area of the incident. Inspection of those trucks turned up one that had body parts other than stock and that had been repainted where damage from striking James would have occurred. The registered owner was Moose Balian.

According to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Dodge County Circuit Court, Balian had taken his truck to an auto body repair shop in Kewaskum on Sept. 9, accompanied by his sister.

Balian's sister, in arranging the repairs, told the repairman that her brother had struck a deer and didn't want his wife to find out about it.

But the repairman told Balian that the damage on the truck wasn't consistent with hitting a deer and confronted him, asking if he was the driver who struck and killed James, the complaint states. Balian then confessed.

The repairman told Balian that he couldn't hide the incident, according to the complaint. Balian allegedly replied: "I don't have a choice. What can I do? It was an accident. I can't come forward."

The complaint states that on that same day Balian's sister told the repairman's wife that Balian saw the damage on the truck two days after James' death and feared he might have fallen asleep at the wheel and struck the boy.

The repairman's wife, according to the complaint, urged Balian to be honest.

Repairs were made, and Balian picked up the truck on Sept. 16, helping finish up the paint job.

In court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Brian Pfeil argued that Balian is a flight risk and asked that bail be set at $75,000 cash. Defense attorney Sweet argued that was excessive, offering instead a $15,000 signature bond and additional security of property if requested by the state.

Circuit Judge Daniel Klossner set Balian's bail at a $25,000 signature bond and limited Balian's contact with people involved in the case.

Brian Drumm, an investigator for the Dodge County district attorney's office, said the investigation is continuing and more charges could be filed.

"We are investigating the circumstances following the accident," Drumm said.

Betty Balian chairs the Dodge County planning and development committee and the automation and information management committee. She is former chairwoman of the town of Lebanon.

Leaving the courtroom, James' mother said being in the courtroom was more difficult for her emotionally than she thought it would be.

"It was more upsetting than I thought it would be, and I just dread what is to come," Susan Gengler said.

"I just wish he would plead guilty to avoid a trial. I want him to say he is sorry," Gengler said, as her comments trailed into tears.

After James' death, his family had made public pleas and offered reward money for information to find the driver who hit the teen.