Alcohol was a factor in the car crash that killed three UW-Madison students on Midvale Boulevard less than a week before the beginning of fall classes, the Dane County coroner said Tuesday.
The crash occurred Aug. 27, when the vehicle carrying Richard Putze, 22, Lindsay Plank, 23, and Daniel Myers, 22, lost control and crashed into a tree at 215 S. Midvale Blvd. around 1:45 a.m.
Coroner John Stanley identified the driver of the vehicle as Putze, who Stanley said had a blood alcohol content of .14 percent at the time of the crash, nearly twice the legal driving limit of .08. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Myers and Plank were transported to UW Hospital, where they later died.
Putze and Plank were about to begin their senior year as chemistry majors. Myers, a talented pianist, completed graduation requirements for a degree in music performance during the summer and was not enrolled in fall classes.
