Crime and Court Roundup: 17-year-old Greendale native charged with disorderly conduct

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A 17-year-old senior at Greendale High School is due in court this afternoon, for allegedly making a bomb threat right before the school’s homecoming last month. But Milwaukee County prosecutors said Nicholas Olson had only responded to the teasing-and-bullying he suffered for years. And therefore, Olson is only being charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct instead of the more serious felony bomb threat charge. The last straw apparently came recently when Olson – who’s described as quiet-and-shy – was recently elected to the Homecoming King’s court. He turned down the opportunity. And a couple days before the homecoming dance, Olson allegedly scribbled a bomb threat on a bathroom wall. A criminal complaint quoted the youngster as saying he had been teased all his life – he acted out of anger – and he had no plans for hurting anyone or causing an explosion in the school. Greendale High School principal Steve Lodes says the incident has stirred up conversations about bullying, and what can be done to stop it. He says bullied youngsters must speak up – and many times, they don’t. Lodes says the school tries to encourage students to embrace quote, “the life-long skill of being a self-advocate.” He says they speak up to trusted adults when things don’t feel right. The boy’s cousin, Greendale football player Jesse Johnston, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Olson is a great guy who got involved with the wrong crowd while growing up.

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Two men are due back in court later this month, after being charged with reckless homicide in the drug-related death of a 17-year-old high school senior in Lodi. 18-year-old Lars Atkinson of Lodi and 22-year-old Milton Moore of Fitchburg are accused of providing the heroin that killed Jacob Adler on July 12th. Columbia County prosecutors said all three met in Madison, where Atkinson bought the heroin from Moore. Authorities said Adler was unresponsive while traveling back to Lodi – and Atkinson tried waking him up a couple times before dragging him outside to a patio chair nine hours later. City workers saw that, and asked if Atkinson needed help. The workers later called 9-1-1. Police quoted Atkinson as saying he felt guilty about the death, but he said Adler quote, “had the choice to say no” to the heroin. Atkinson is scheduled for an initial court appearance on October 17th. Moore is due in court on the 24th.

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A Green Bay man has been sentenced to six years in prison for abusing his girlfriend’s baby daughter who later died. 30-year-old Daniel Vega must also spend six years under extended supervision once he leaves prison. According to authorities, Vega claimed that 13-month-old Lilly Tebeau fell from a bed in August of last year. But doctors said the injuries did not match the claim – and she had a skull fracture and severe head trauma. Two months ago, a jury convicted Vega of two felony child abuse charges. But they acquitted him of reckless homicide. Vega again proclaimed his innocence yesterday, saying quote, “I never harmed that child.” A woman yelled that Vega was a liar, and Brown County Circuit Judge William Atkinson had her removed from the courtroom.

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A march is planned in Milwaukee this afternoon, where friends-and-relatives of Derek Williams will demand justice. The 22-year-old Williams died over a year ago in a Milwaukee Police car, where he spent almost eight minutes gasping for air and begging for help before he collapsed. An early afternoon rally is scheduled at the Martin Luther King statue on Milwaukee’s north side. The group will then march to MacArthur Park near the county courthouse. A medical examiner initially said Williams died from natural causes – but the ruling was changed to “homicide” after a newly-released video showed Williams’ final struggle. Former judge John Franke was named yesterday as a special prosecutor. He’ll arrange for a public inquest, in which a jury will decide whether charges should be filed. Williams had just been taken into custody for a street robbery before his arrest and death.

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