The semi-truck driver involved in a crash with a motor coach carrying members of the Chippewa Falls High School marching band is facing criminal charges in Eau Claire County Circuit Court.

Michael John Kozlowski, 23, of Schererville, Ind., was charged with 16 felony counts and nine misdemeanors as a result of the Oct. 16 crash that resulted in the deaths of five people, including UW-Eau Claire senior Branden Atherton. Kozlowski was driving the truck for Whole Foods Market Group of Munster, Ind.

Eau Claire County District Attorney Richard White filed the charges Jan. 12 after investigations conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Wisconsin State Patrol yielded evidence to support criminal negligence, according to the criminal complaint.

Felony charges include five counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle that resulted in the deaths of Atherton; band director Douglas Greenhalgh; his wife Therese; his 11-year-old grand-daughter Morgan; and bus driver Paul Rasmus.

Eleven felony counts of reckless driving causing great bodily harm were also filed, which include injuries sustained by Brian Collicott, assistant marching band director at Chippewa Falls High School.
Misdemeanors include nine counts of reckless driving causing injury, according to court records.

Kozlowski’s first court appearance is set for Jan. 31. If convicted on all counts, the maximum sentence could be about 98 years in prison, according to the complaint.
Atherton was a student teacher at Chippewa Falls High School and in his last semester at Eau Claire.

Both the Collicott and Atherton families filed wrongful death suits against Kozlowski, Whole Foods Market Group, Chippewa Trails and their respective insurance companies in December. Both civil cases are currently open, according to Chippewa County Circuit Court records.
Neither White nor Earl Gray, Kozlowski’s Twin Cities-based defense attorney, could be reached for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.