Texas man canvassing for Tiffany charged with drunken hit and run

A Texas man hired to canvas neighborhoods for Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany has been charged with hitting a bicyclist with his car while intoxicated in a hit and run incident in Washington County, before fleeing police. 

Duane Maiden, 32, was hired by Echo Canyon Consulting, a Phoenix-based political campaign and public affairs firm. The firm confirmed Maiden’s employment, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. 

The firm had received $2.5 million from the Florida-based Restoration of America PAC to support canvassing operations for Tiffany, according to campaign finance records, according to the Journal Sentinel. The PAC is heavily funded by the billionaire Richard Uihlein, cofounder and CEO of the shipping company Uline, based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. 

On Sept. 3, a Washington County sheriff deputy responded to a crash involving a car and a bicycle in the town of Jackson. The victim sustained injuries including fractures to his leg, pelvis, and spine. Witnesses said they saw a car “flying eastbound on Western Avenue,” blowing through a stop sign before striking the bicyclist and continuing on without stopping. A coworker of Maiden’s called 911 to say that he was with the driver and identified Maiden.

Deputies went to the Town of Cedarburg where the coworker had been dropped off, the Journal Sentinel reported. The coworker said that he and Maiden had come to Wisconsin to canvas for political campaigns. They planned to be in Wisconsin for the next two months before traveling to New York and Florida. They were working the morning of the crash. The coworker said that Maiden bought and drank from a bottle of Vodka before stopping for pizza and gas. 

After the hit and run, the coworker said, he asked to be let out of the car and then called both 911 and his supervisor

Deputies spotted Maiden’s car while talking to the coworker and chased him into Ozaukee County where they arrested him and took him to jail. Maiden said he started drinking and driving  because he had to wait too long between assignments. Maiden denied knowing that he hit the bicyclist.  

Although Echo Canyon Consulting claimed Maiden was not working for the firm during the hit and run, court records contradict those claims, according to the Journal Sentinel. 

Tiffany’s campaign denied any connection to Maiden. 

Maiden was charged on Sept. 4 in Ozaukee County Circuit Court for felony fleeing an officer and misdemeanor resisting. Then on Sept. 11, he was charged in Washington County Circuit Court for felony hit and run  involving great bodily harm and felony intoxicated use of a vehicle. He faces more than 27 years in prison and up to $95,000 in fines.