WESTBY, Wis. — Investigators have reconstructed what happened the night that a Minnesota woman was struck by a four-wheeler near the Westby Rod and Gun Club and seriously injured and abandoned in a snow bank. This is the investigators’ chronology, as reported in criminal complaints against two Westby men, and as filled in from other sources:
> Two buddies, Mitchell McKittrick, 22, and Robert J. Purvis, 21, had been drinking on a Saturday night at the Westby Rod and Gun Cub at 215 South Main Street.
> On his way home on an offroad SUV, McKittrick struck a woman on nearby Bakkedal Avenue.
> Hit was Emily R. Helseth, 36, of White Bear Lake, who was walking to her sister’s house.
> McKittrick, very drunk, telephoned Purvis that he’d been in an accident with his UTV.
> Purvis, also drunk, went to the scene where the woman still was pinned under the roll cage of McKittrick’s UTV in the middle of the road.
> The pair dragged the woman to a snowbank. Purvis told McKittrick to call 911, then left. This was about 3:30 a.m.
> Helseth was hospitalized with multiple broken ribs, fractured vertebrae, a broken jawbone, and trauma to her liver and spleen.
> McKittrick was arrested later in the day based on a tip.
> Purvis was arrested three weeks later.
> To help wth Helseth’smedial eoanses, froends establishhed an nline GoFundMe account, which has raised $26,000.
> Helseth is in-patient rehab and regaining movement and building strength. Last week week was when she was able to get into a wheelchair and spend about 15 miutes in the sunshine with her family.
Earlier: Westby man charged as hit-run accomplice
Helseth. From family photo album. Was visiting sister in Westby. Badly mangled. Recovering slowly.
Saturday hours: To 2:30 a.m., Sundays.