News – May 14, 2019

(Juneau) The former Fox Lake Police Chief accused of molesting a young girl 30-years-ago and then later stalking her and two other people has been convicted on reduced charges. Patrick Lynch was charged in 2010 with six felony counts of First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child and Stalking. At a hearing yesterday, Lynch pled no contest to amended misdemeanor charges of Stalking and Misconduct In Office. Lynch apparently followed the woman years after he was accused of molesting her in 1989. He also stalked a woman who used to work for the Fox Lake Police Department and a man who was dating his ex-wife.  He resigned as police chief in Fox Lake in the spring of 2009. Lynch was ordered to pay $4000 in fines and court costs and submit a DNA sample.

(Juneau) A four-day jury trial is slated to begin September 9th for a Portage man accused of killing a Beaver Dam man. Nigel Schultz is charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of Bradlee Gerke. A property owner in Lebanon called authorities on Halloween reporting that there could be a body in his cow pasture. He told investigators that his daughter identified the suspect as Schultz, who is her ex-boyfriend. When interviewed by investigators, Schultz initially maintained that the property owner was the one who shot the victim and he only stole the victim’s phone and Food Share Card. But later, the 21-year-old allegedly confessed to shooting Gerke in the back of the head with a 38-Derringer and a .22-rifle.

(Theresa) The teenager killed in a two-vehicle accident Thursday evening in the Town of Theresa has been identified as 18-year-old Alex Nortman of Mayville. Four other people were injured when a car and pickup truck collided at the intersection of Hochheim and Freedom roads. A 19-year-old Mayville man who was a passenger in the car sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The 19-year-old Mayville man driving the car suffered non-life-threatening injuries as did a 16-year-old female passenger from Theresa and the 26-year-old Mayville man driving the pickup. The crash remains under investigation / by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol.

(Town of Westpoint) A Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy was pepper sprayed during a traffic stop yesterday (Monday) morning. The incident happened around 12:15am on State Highway 60 at O’Connor Road in the Town of Westpoint. The suspect, who had been stopped for speeding, fled and the deputy was unable to pursue him because of impaired vision. The pickup, which was reportedly stolen, was found abandoned in a subdivision and the suspect was last seen walking through yards. He is described as a white male, between 20-and-30-years-old with dark-colored hair, scruffy facial hair, wearing a black t-shirt and holding a red sweatshirt. Sheriff Roger Brandner is asking the public’s help in identifying the suspect.

(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Common Council last night green-lighted a grant application for the proposed two-year reconstruction of South Spring Street. If approved, the $3.7-million dollar project from Mill Street to Judson Drive could see up to one-million dollars in state grant funding. The city utility, which generates revenue through fees, would pay $2-million for underground infrastructure, leaving $700-thousand to be paid through the tax levy via the city’s annual borrowing plan. South Spring is in the city street maintenance plan in 2021 but that would have to be moved to next year at the expense of other projects. Alderman Cris Olson has South Spring in his ward and says it cannot be held-off much longer.

(Fond du Lac) Republicans will flock to Oshkosh this weekend for the GOP’s annual State Convention. Rohn Bishop is the chairman of the Republican Party of Fond du Lac County. He says over the past few years they’ve had Governor Scott Walker and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan who were up and coming political superstars, but that is no longer a draw for the state convention. Bishop says the convention will also be a regrouping effort following the mid-term elections.