Western Wisconsin News Briefs: Dickeyville man arrested for shooting car while hunting

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DICKEYVILLE - A 71-year old Dickeyville man has been arrested for a shooting on a state highway in rural Grant County.

Thomas Welp tells authorities he was firing his rifle at a red-tailed hawk in a tree and didn’t know he had hit another vehicle. A 40-year old mother and her four children were riding in an SUV along Wisconsin Highway 61 near the Platte River Bridge when their vehicle was hit by a bullet. The Lancaster woman told authorities she saw the barrel of a rifle come out of the driver’s side window as they passed, then she heard a shot.

A bullet hole was found in the driver’s side door of her vehicle and the bullet was recovered. The DNR also recovered a dead hawk at the scene. Welp has been tentatively charged with recklessly endangering safety. Neither the woman nor her four children were injured.

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A Burnett County Circuit Court judge has bound the parents of three year old Reena Williams over for trial on felony charges of child neglect resulting in death. Seven witnesses testified at a three-hour preliminary hearing for Thomas Jay Williams and Jenna Elizabeth Danish in Siren. The little girl was reported missing August 14th, with her body discovered in the water 25 yards from her home the next afternoon. Judge Dennis Kutz said the parents may have cared for Reena by providing food, medical care and clothing, but he said care includes supervision. Authorities said the couple had a habit of letting Reena wander away on her own. The night she disappeared her father was allegedly smoking synthetic marijuana and her mother was sleeping. The next hearing in the case will be held early next year.

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The Barron County Sheriff’s Department reports an arrest has been made in the hit-and-run accident Wednesday night near Chetek which left five people hospitalized. They say they have taken the driver of the pickup which crashed into the buggy into custody. That accident happened about 9:30 p.m. Forty year old Brian Holst was arrested earlier today. Authorities say they got a tip this morning that the vehicle involved in the accident might have been a Jennie-O company truck. Holst was the truck’s driver. He was interviewed at the sheriff’s department and confessed to hitting the buggy and leaving the scene of the accident. Holst is expected to face felony charges. The occupants of the buggy were Felty and Lorene Lambright and their three children, Marilyn, Amanda and Luella. At least one of the injuries was serious.

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A judge in southwest Wisconsin ruled Thursday that an Argyle teenager is mentally competent to stand trial for a fire that killed his three nephews. 18-year-old Jeremy Wand appeared in Lafayette County Circuit Court. The judge reviewed a competency exam and decided that Wand is able to help prepare his own defense. Wand is charged with three counts of homicide for a September seventh blaze at the home of his 32-year-old brother Armin Wand the Third. Jeremy is also charged with arson plus two counts of attempted homicide, after Armin’s wife and two-year-old daughter escaped from the burning house. Both men are due back in court November 13th, where a hearing will determine if there’s enough evidence for both to stand trial. The woman’s unborn child was also killed in the blaze, but prosecutors have not charged either defendant in that death. Authorities said Wand set the blaze to collect the insurance money, and get a fresh start after a rough marriage.

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Six veterans will finally be buried today in Superior. Their remains have been stored for many years at funeral homes in the area, because they either had no surviving relatives, or their families could not afford to bury them. Joe Penney of Superior started the effort. He said a friend died 11 years ago, but was never given a proper burial. And Penney learned that five other Douglas County veterans never had military funerals, either – so that’s when he started a fund drive to bury all six vets. About 125 people and businesses donated almost five-thousand dollars. And there was enough left over to pre-pay for burial for future veterans whose families are either in need, or are no longer around. Penney’s friend and the other five veterans will get full military honors during their services on Saturday at Greenwood Cemetery in Superior. Markers are not available yet – but they’ll be set in time for next year’s Memorial Day.

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