Police have wrapped up their investigation and asked prosecutors to decide on charges in the hit-and-run traffic death of pedestrian David Hawpetoss.
Hawpetoss, 48, of Gresham, died after being found injured July 25 along a roadside north of Keshena on the Menominee reservation.
Tribal police and FBI agents said they have identified a suspect in the incident and have referred the investigation results to local and federal prosecutors.
The FBI assisted in the case because the tribal judicial system handles misdemeanors only and because state courts have no jurisdiction on the Menominee reservation. Officials said the Wisconsin State Patrol also assisted in the investigation.
“What they did was put a very good case together that tells the story of what happened,” FBI supervisory special agent Scott Neville said Monday.
Hawpetoss, a member of the Menominee tribe, was found fatally injured about 4:15 a.m. July 25 along Old South Branch Road just north of Bent Tree Road. The father of two was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
Autopsy results have not been released.
Family members have said Hawpetoss had been visiting taverns with friends that night, but they are unsure how he got to the accident scene or where he might have been heading.
Family members, who have been critical of how police handled the investigation, expressed mixed feelings about hearing that the case was in prosecutors’ hands.
Jill Johnson, the victim’s mother, said she remains hopeful that charges will be brought and that justice will be served in her son’s death. Johnson, however, said she continues to have questions about why the family was kept in the dark during much of the investigation.
“It’s getting to be too late,” she said. “Who do I trust?”
Family members also have cited rumors that a suspect in the case has personal ties to the tribal Police Department.
In announcing that the case had gone to prosecutors, officials on Monday would not identify the suspect or say what evidence linked him or her to Hawpetoss’ death. The case will be reviewed by both the Menominee tribal prosecutor and the U.S. attorney’s office.
Tribal Police Chief Mark K. Waukau Sr., who has said untrue rumors were circulating about the case, reported early on that investigators had used broken pieces of a vehicle at the scene to locate a suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run case.
On Monday, Waukau said police had been in touch with Hawpetoss’ family and had provided as much information as possible without jeopardizing the confidentiality needed to conduct the investigation. He also said investigators had done a thorough job.
“Everybody’s going to see why we did what we did,” he added.
Jolene Hawpetoss, the victim’s sister, said family members already have asked Menominee tribal leaders to seek the involvement of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency separate from the FBI.
Jolene voiced concerns that investigators were going to blame her brother for his own death, because he had been drinking that night.
She questioned whether the truth would ever come out.
“I don’t feel there was a proper investigation,” she said. “I don’t feel we’re going to get the answers.”
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