BY MIKE WARREN

WOOD COUNTY – For the second time in as many weeks, a Marshfield teenager has been killed in an early-morning traffic accident because someone ignored a stop sign.

The latest crash was reported at 3:45 a.m. on Oct. 9, and happened at the intersection of Highway 73 and Polish Road in the Wood County Town of Wood.

According to the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, the initial investigation showed that a vehicle – driven by 14-year-old Quinton T. Plucinski of Marshfield – was traveling southbound on Polish Road when he failed to stop at the stop sign at Highway 73. As a result, the southbound vehicle was struck by a semi tractor trailer that was traveling eastbound on State Highway 73, driven by Ravinder S. Dhillon, 36, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

Plucinski and his passenger – 16-year-old Conner K. Ostricki of Stratford – were pronounced dead at the scene. 

There was no word on any injuries suffered by Dhillon and his passenger – Gagandeep S. Sidhu, 28, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

The crash remains under investigation by the Wood County Sheriff’s Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol. State Highway 73 was closed for several hours following the crash.

Agencies assisting the Wood County Sheriff’s Department were Wood County Dispatch, Pittsville Fire Department, Pittsville Ambulance, and the Wood County Coroner’s Office. 

On Sept. 22, Sophia Smrz, 17, of Junction City, was on her way to school for swim practice, when she was killed at Highway Y and Shady Road in the Town of Auburndale. In that crash, Jason Peterson, 46, of Arpin, was traveling north on Shady Road, when he neglected to stop for a stop sign, killing Smrz.