Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
An estranged couple involved in a road-rage incident this summer in Shawano County are now parties to a potential court fight over a hospital bill for more than $250,000.
Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah has filed a claim in Winnebago County Circuit Court for unpaid medical bills stemming from the July 22 traffic accident.
Named as co-defendants in the civil matter are Jeremy Young, 43, who was hospitalized after the incident, along with his estranged wife, Sheri Young, 40, and her boyfriend, Craig Roberts, 42.
The court action means that Theda Clark intends to collect from any of the parties found responsible for the accident and ordered to pay a judgment.
It also provides a glimpse into the difficult recovery that Jeremy Young faced after what police and witnesses have described as a violent confrontation on County Road BE in the town of Wescott.
“It was all stupid,” Young said in his first interview about the incident. “It could’ve been taken care of differently. But it wasn’t.”
According to police, Young and his wife were driving in separate SUVs about 3:30 p.m. July 22 when they became entangled in a road-rage exchange. Young had raced up alongside his wife’s vehicle on the shoulder of the road when a collision sent his vehicle tumbling into a ditch and he was seriously hurt.
Young said his injuries were paralyzing from the waist down and he now is a paraplegic.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department has not charged anyone in the incident, but Capt. Tom Tuma said the investigation remains active.
“We are making progress,” Tuma said.
Sheri Young and Craig Roberts have moved out of their house on Park Street in Shawano and could not be reached for comment.
Jeremy Young said the incident began July 22 when he picked up his daughter from a house where she lived with her mother. The estranged wife and boyfriend came outside, and Roberts flashed a knife as he and his girlfriend climbed into their own vehicle, Young said.
When Young’s daughter said that her mother and the boyfriend had been arguing, Young decided to follow their vehicle. After he drove up along the other vehicle’s passenger side, Young said, he flashed his own knife, holding it out a window in Roberts’ direction.
According to Young, Roberts then grabbed the steering wheel from Sheri Young and steered her SUV into the other vehicle, sending Jeremy Young’s vehicle rolling over into a ditch. Sheri Young was arrested a short time later on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident. But police released her without charges while they pieced together what had happened.
Jeremy Young spent nearly two months at Theda Clark hospital receiving treatment for what he described as a crushed sternum, broken ribs and other injuries.
According to the hospital’s claim, he was discharged Sept. 18 with unpaid medical expenses totalling $271,763.
Hospital spokeswoman Megan Mulholland said state law allows the hospital 60 days to file a lien establishing its claim against any party who could be found responsible for the unpaid bill. Mulholland said one scenario would be Jeremy Young filing suit for his injuries and being awarded damages from his estranged wife and/or her boyfriend — of which the hospital would seek to collect $271,763.
The civil action does not mean Theda Clark is pursuing its own claim against Jeremy Young over the unpaid bill, Mulholland said.
“We just wanted to put him and the others on notice,” she said. “It was just an alert to everybody.”
Young, who now lives with family members in the town of Washington, said he had health insurance through his employer. It is possible that his medical bills exceeded the limits of his insurance, he said, noting that he also spent a month in a nursing center after being discharged from Theda Clark.
Young called it reasonable that his wife or her boyfriend should share responsibility for the medical bill. He said he blames Roberts, in particular, for grabbing the steering wheel and causing the collision. However, Young also accepts responsibility for his role in the road-rage incident.
“I was in the wrong also,” he said.