A Dakota County man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a hit-and-run crash in western Wisconsin eight years ago that left two people dead.
Andrew Endres, 34, of Randolph was sentenced Tuesday in Polk County Circuit Court after pleading no contest to two counts of hit-and-run resulting in death in connection with the crash on Jan. 11, 2014, that killed Richard L. Cobenais Jr., 41, who lived near Luck, Wis., and Benjamin R. Juarez, 28, of Frederic, Wis.
The sentence for Endres, who was a longtime firefighter in his community, also includes five years of extended supervision after he's released from prison.
Cobenais and Juarez were struck by Endres' pickup truck and killed shortly before 6:30 p.m. along County Road E, northeast of Balsam Lake. The two had been at a home and got into a fight that spilled into the road, where they were hit, according to the Sheriff's Office.
On Sept. 28, 2020, a man called the Sheriff's Office and said his estranged wife heard Endres say he ran over the two men and was drunk at the time, the charges against him read.
A law enforcement search of Endres' cellphone revealed that he was in the area less than five hours before the collision and until late the next morning before heading back to Minnesota, the charges continued.
About two weeks later, the pickup was located in Crow Wing County under new ownership and seized by law enforcement.
