12/3/24 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
3 December 2024 News
FORMER RIPON FIRE CHIEF FACING CHARGES
A criminal complaint was signed by Ripon Police yesterday charging former Ripon Area Fire District Chief Tim Saul with three counts of financial transaction card-use to defraud. All three charges are Class A misdemeanors. According to the criminal complaint the charges are related to the use of a fire district credit card between January 1st, 2016 and December 31st of 2022. He allegedly used the credit card over that period for mostly personal off-the-books expenses. The complaint lists nearly 5 pages of expenses totaling $42,904.28. Among the credit card charges listed were expenditures for the trips to two Wisconsin Dells water parks, the Chicago Cubs, hotel stays out-of-state, an AirBnB in California, and for his wife’s business. According to the criminal complaint the investigation began after Ripon Area Fire District Board President Ellen Sorensen contacted Ripon Police Chief William Wallner in June of 2023. She felt the financial issues being presented to the board at meetings seemed unusual. Saul was hired as Ripon’s Fire Chief in 2013 and held that position until he suddenly resigned in December of 2022.
MAN FOUND DEAD ON THE FOX RIVER
Green Lake County Sheriff’s officials say a 75-year-old man was found dead next to a vehicle that went into the Fox River near his property on Huckleberry Road in the Town of St. Marie Monday morning. The Sheriff’s Office got a call just before 8:30 am saying the man had not returned home when expected. A relative looking for him found his vehicle in the Fox River. The vehicle had ice around it and the man was found dead outside of it. Investigators say ice conditions indicated the incident had not happened Monday morning. Princeton Fire Department members used a Hovercraft and other water rescue equipment to recover his body. The incident remains under investigation.
UPDATE ON FATAL FDL COUNTY ACCIDENT
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office has identified the 34-year-old Brandon woman killed in a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 151 at County Highway TC in the Town of Lamartine last Saturday night. Samantha Watts-Galica died at the scene of the crash. Investigators say she was heading east on County Highway TC and failed to stop at a stop sign. A southbound vehicle on State Highway 151 hit the side of her vehicle forcing both into the median. The 41-year-old Fond du Lac man driving the southbound vehicle was not injured, but four passengers in his vehicle suffered minor injuries. They were evaluated at the scene and released. All five were wearing seatbelts. Contributing factors in the accident include failure to stop at the stop sign and failure to yield to cross-traffic.
RIPON TEEN SENTENCED IN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH
An 18-year-old Ripon man was sentenced Monday in Fond du Lac County court for his role in the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of a Ripon teen. Maison Springston was sentenced to 7 years in prison and 8 years of extended supervision. The investigation showed the known chain of delivery started with Donavyn Mueller, who became the target of the investigation. According to the criminal complaint the victim, 18-year-old Kyle Lamb, took a pill believed to be Percocet at a Ripon home and overdosed. He was taken from the residence and left on a sidewalk. The pill contained fentanyl. As for Springston’s co-defendants in the case; Michael Manske will be sentenced on January 21st, Joseph Schmidt-Rehbein on December 20th and Donavyn Mueller on February 7th.
MILWAUKEE MAN SENTENCED FOR FDL COUNTY DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH
The 23-year-old Milwaukee man convicted in the overdose death of a Fond du Lac County man has been sentenced to 8 years in prison and 7 years of extended supervision. Derrise Lamon Townsend, Jr was sentenced Monday in Fond du Lac County court on a first-degree reckless homicide charge. The victim a 24-year-old Town of Metomen man died in the basement bedroom of his parent’s home on May 8th of 2020. According to the criminal complaint the victim had a long history of drug use and had started using heroin at the age of 16. He had recently been released from the Milwaukee Secure Detention facility and was believed to be clean from using drugs for at least several months. Townsend and the victim likely met while both were at the Milwaukee Secure Detention facility at the same time. Townsend was suspected of selling the victim the drugs that killed him. Fond du Lac County Chief Medical Examiner Adam Covach ruled the cause of death ethanol and fentanyl toxicity and the manner of death to be accidental. Townsend has another open first-degree reckless homicide case in Milwaukee County. He is currently incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution.
FDL MAN CONVICTED OF SECOND-DEGREE HOMICIDE
The second of the two Fond du Lac men suspected of robbing and killing Benzel Rose of Fond du Lac was convicted in Fond du Lac County court yesterday. Thirty-year-old Eric Perry pled no contest to second degree intentional homicide, armed robbery with use of force, and felon in possession of firearm charges. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and he will be sentenced on March 24th. Co-defendant Julius Freeman was convicted in a jury trial last year of first degree intentional homicide and armed robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for release after 35 years. Late the night of October 17th, 2021 Fond du Lac Police responded to a 9-1-1 call for assistance at a residence in the 300 block of 8th Street. Officers found the 26-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound to the head. A gun and some money were stolen from Rose. Perry and Julius Freeman were picked up on probation warrants in the fall of 2021 and have been incarcerated since.
ARPA FUNDS A BLESSING
Fond du Lac County Executive Sam Kaufman says the American Rescue Plan Act funds the county received in the wake of the COVID pandemic were a real blessing. The County received $20 million and used most of it through the end of last month. Kaufman says they were able to do a lot with it including $1.8 million in improvements to the park systems, the purchase of 3 Sheriff’s squad cars, the creation of a few new positions, and more. He says they were also able to set aside a chunk of that ARPA money to get the Fond du Lac County campus up and running after the UW Systems decided to close the UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac campus. Kaufman says it is unfortunate they had to set aside so much for the Fond du Lac County campus because they could have done so much more with that money.
DNR APPRECIATE TIPS ABOUT POACHING INCIDENTS
On the heels of the 9-day gun-deer season a conservation warden with the Wisconsin DNR urges residents to report poaching if they see it. A 36-year-old Brownsville woman and three juveniles have been charged in relation to a poaching ring in which over 100 deer and other animals were maimed or killed in Dodge, Fond du Lac, and Washington counties. Conservation Warden William Hankee says conservation wardens cover a big area and the support of sportsmen and women is important. To report poaching call 1-800-TIP-WDNR that’s 1-800-847-9367. Jessica Kroening made her initial appearance in Washington County Court yesterday and the hearing was adjourned to December 30th to allow her to get an attorney. She was released on a $5,000 signature bond. Because the teens charged in relation to the poaching are facing charges in juvenile court state law prohibits publicly identifying them.
EXTORTION ATTEMPTS BY TEXT AND EMAIL INCREASE
The Administrator for the state’s Division of Trade and Consumer Protection says there was an increase in October and November in the number of reports about extortion attempts by email and text. Michelle Reinen says the messages in question falsely claim that the sender has obtained private and potentially damaging information, often video recordings of the target. They may imply they have been watching and recording the target’s actions for a long time. The scammer threatens to send the data to the target’s friends, family and coworkers if they do not pay up. They typically ask their target to pay in crypto currency. Reinen says they often claim the target has visited unsafe websites which allowed the scammer to access the target’s devices. She says they will use Google Map photos and other information available on the web to convince their target they know about them. She recommends not responding to the text or email. Other tips include never sending money and change your passwords for all your accounts. She also urges anyone contacted by a scammer to report it by calling 1-800-422-7128.
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