State Crime and Court Roundup: Bayfield man in jail after fleeing an accident scene

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DULUTH - A Bayfield man is in jail this morning, after police said he critically injured a woman with his car and drove away.

It happened yesterday in Duluth, Minnesota. Police said the 29-year-old suspect drove around two vehicles that were stopped for a red light. And then he drove onto a sidewalk, where a 33-year-old woman was walking with her nine-year-old daughter. Ashen-Shugar-Aren Diehl of Duluth was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Her daughter was not hurt. Investigators said the driver took off, parked in a nearby lot, and fled on foot. Police were told that he was on Duluth’s Lake-Walk – and he was arrested there a short time after the incident. Officials say several charges are possible, including criminal vehicular operation. The man pleaded no contest in June to driving in Wisconsin after his license was revoked, after police caught him with drug paraphernalia in his car in 2010. He was also convicted of bail jumping, and was charged with domestic abuse and credit card fraud.

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A man shot to death by an Appleton police officer was identified yesterday as 61-year-old Keith Gabriel. Sergeant Greg Pieper was called to Gabriel’s house on Friday night, after a neighbor complained that he was shooting off fireworks. Police said Gabriel then went inside to get a handgun – and he was armed when the officer arrived. Pieper called for backup. But he canceled the request a minute later when he told a dispatcher that he shot Gabriel. Reports said the suspect failed to drop his weapon when Pieper told him to do so. Appleton Police Chief Pete Helein said the officer did what he had to do to protect himself and others. Police from nearby Green Bay are now investigating the incident, and Pieper was put on administrative leave for now. The Appleton Post-Crescent said Gabriel had threatened another city employee 12 years ago. That was after the city raised “non-compliance issues” about the man’s property, as part of a re-development effort. Prosecutors said Gabriel told an official quote, “If any city employee comes on my property, I’ll chase them off with a gun.” He was fined 200-dollars and was placed on a deferred prosecution agreement. It was his only criminal conviction.

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Fitchburg Police now say a six-year-old girl is expected to recover, after she was stabbed on Sunday. Investigators said her mother stabbed the youngster and herself – and the woman is under guard at a hospital. The girl remained in critical condition at last word at the U-W Hospital in Madison with multiple stab wounds to her back, abdomen, and chest. Police said the mother went to a neighbor’s house right after the stabbing and admitted what she did. The neighbor then called 9-1-1. Fitchburg Police lieutenant Todd Stetzer said his department had received no calls relating to the girl’s welfare before Sunday’s incident.

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