JOSEPH THOMAS |
No reduced bond for hit, run suspect July 20, 2010 A request for reduction of bail was denied here Monday for Joseph W. Thomas, a Mosinee man prosecutors allege nearly killed an Antigo bicyclist in a Highway 64 crash earlier this month.
The hit and run suspect is charged with injuring 26-year old Timothy Wissbroecker who remains hospitalized after being tossed from his bike when struck from behind by a sports utility vehicle on the morning of July 5.
Thomas, the alleged driver, is jailed on a $100,000 cash bond and will continue to be despite an appeal to Judge Fred Kawalski by defense attorney Daniel Musser. An associate of the Mandell & Ginsberg law firm, the Madison attorney asked that bond be cut, perhaps to as low as $25,000 cash.
District Attorney Ralph Uttke voiced strong objections to the change and Kawalski denied a revision, advising that the serious nature of the charges required a significant cash bond.
Jailed since his July 10 arrest at a Rib Mountain supper club, his place of business, Thomas stands charged with three felony counts — first degree reckless endangerment of safety and causing great bodily harm by both reckless driving and hit and run. Combined, they carry a possible term of imprisonment of more than 30 years, fines in excess of $100,000 or both.
Officials suspect Thomas may have been under the influence of prescription medication at the time of the incident. As part of the investigation, law enforcement authorities learned he had been prescribed several different pain medications since his involvement in a 2007 boating accident. Included among the state’s evidence is an empty bottle turned over to lawmen by the defendant’s parents. According to court records, it had been filled with 90 pills on July 2, three days prior to the accident, and contained directions to take one pill per day.
A four page criminal complaint drawn by Uttke details the investigation including a list of Wissbroecker’s injuries which included several spine fractures, a broken pelvis, a broken leg and other head and internal injuries.
A witness to the crash told officials that he had viewed through his rear view window a bicyclist flying through the air, but the striking vehicle had left the scene. Subsequent to the accident, officials learned that a Honda sports utility vehicle had driven into the parking lot at the Dickie Do’s bar, approximately five miles east of the crash scene. The driver asked for assistance in changing a flat tire and it was thanks to that stop that officials were able to develop a possible suspect.
The individual who provided assistance told investigators the motorist had “slowed speech and appeared confused” and suggested that the man had “droopy eyes, talked slow and appeared to be on some kind of pain medication.” He also noted damage to the man’s vehicle, including a “crinkled” fender and hood as well as a missing headlight.
According to the complaint, the motorist asked for directions to Wausau and “became nervous” when an ambulance rolled by en route to the crash site.
A statewide search was staged but it wasn’t until five days later when Thomas’ parents notified the Kronenwetter Police Department of a suspicious finding in their garage. Their Honda CR-V appeared to have been in involved in a crash and it was believed their son may have been the driver.
The Wisconsin State Patrol was called in for assistance and Thomas was subsequently arrested after being located at his workplace, Michael’s supper club, at Rib Mountain. Officials said after initially being told by others he was not there, Thomas was found hiding in a back storage room with the lights off.
According to the complaint, Thomas admitted to being in Merrill on July 5. He said he had gotten lost on his way back to Wausau and struck a “large object in the roadway.” He later said it “could have been a person and it could have been bad.”
Thomas told authorities he subsequently stopped at Dickie Do’s to get help for changing a tire, drove back to Wausau on Highway HH and parked the vehicle in his parent’s garage.
According to his parents, it was the fourth accident Thomas had been involved in since October of 2009. His parents told investigators that while they had been away at vacation, they had told their daughter to hide the keys to the vehicle so Thomas would not find them but “the defendant saw her hide them and took them.”
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