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OWI charge follows toddler’s injury

Police say a man with a prior drunk driving conviction struck a child.

Kenneth E. Gille, 74, New London, is charged with operating while intoxicated and causing injury.

On Nov. 14, 2016, New London Police Officer Ryan Gloe and Sgt. Earl Ruckdashel responded to an accident reported at the corner of Division and Bruce streets.

Witnesses said a 19-month-old child was hit and injured by a white van driven by Gille.

Gille told Gloe he was driving northbound on Division Street when the child ran out into the road and hit the passenger side of his van.

A woman, who was stopped at Bruce and Division streets, said she saw a child standing on the sidewalk and a white van traveling on Division.

She said she was looking in the opposite direction when she heard a thud. She turned immediately and saw the child land on the ground, nearly 5 feet into the roadway.

The child’s mother was placing a car seat on the porch of her home when she heard a car hit something. When she saw her child laying on the road, she picked her up and carried her to the hospital which was less than two blocks away.

The child was later flown to the ThedaCare Trauma Center, in Neenah.

According to the criminal complaint, a blood test indicated Gille had a 0.134 blood-alcohol content.

He was convicted of his first OWI in May 1993.

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