Investigation Continues Into State Trooper’s Death

Wisconsin State Trooper Anthony Borostowski, of Tomah, died in a crash in his patrol car early Tuesday morning on Interstate 90 near Wisconsin Dells.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Department said Borostowski pulled out of the median, and was traveling eastbound at a high speed, when his car went off the freeway and hit a tree.

Sauk County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeff Spencer said his department is trying to see if the trooper was pursuing a violator.

A witness says the patrol vehicle did not have emergency lights on. Spencer said the investigation is more difficult because Borostowski was driving a 2009 state car that didn’t have a dashboard camera.

“When there’s a camera, typically the footage goes back 30 seconds from the time of a crash. That would give us a lot of information,” Spencer said. “We don’t have that. So we’re investigating the way that we always would by interviewing people and collecting as much data as we can.”

Spencer said an accident reconstruction team has also been looking into the fatal crash. Borostowski was in the same State Patrol recruit class as Trevor Casper, who died in a shootout with a bank robber in Fond du Lac two years ago.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s office says it will continue its investigation into Borostowski’s death. Gov. Scott Walker ordered flags to be flown at half-staff, out of respect for the deceased trooper.

Walker said Tuesday that Borostowski was a member of the Wisconsin National Guard and won an award two years ago for saving a man’s life.

Walker released a statement saying he met Borostowski in 2015 when the trooper received the State Patrol’s Lifesaving Award after performing CPR on a man.

Walker says Borostowski was a staff sergeant in the Wisconsin National Guard.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 to include original reporting from WPR.