Wilson man charged with criminal damage at Eagles Nest Bar in Boyceville and sexual assault

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  — A 19-year-old Wilson man will make an initial appearance later this month in Dunn County Circuit Court in connection with criminal damage to the Eagles Nest Bar in Boyceville and sexual assault.

Hunter T. Smith is charged in Dunn County with three felonies: burglary to a building, criminal damage to property amounting to over $2,500 and second degree sexual assault of a child.

According to the criminal complaint, on April 29, Officer Peter Rud with the Boyceville Police Department was flagged down by some residents on East Street who said there was “someone living in the Eagles Nest Bar” on Main Street in Boyceville.

The Eagles Nest has been part of a foreclosure proceeding and is now owned by People’s State Bank of Plainview.

A 14-year-old girl told the police officer she had been inside the bar twice and had gone in using an open door in the back. The girl said two men were living in the bar, which has been closed for a while and is on the market to be sold, the complaint states.

The girl told Officer Rud that the two men had moved tables around inside the bar and had placed cardboard over the windows. The men stayed there, turned on lights and used the bar as a place to “hang out,” she said.

The girl identified the two men who had been in the Eagles Nest, one of which was identified as Hunter Smith. She said the two men living in the bar were the ones who “were always walking around town,” according to the complaint.

The Boyceville police officer went to the bar and found an open back door. The officer requested squads to assist him, and the officers cleared the building and found no one inside.

Officer Rud discovered pry marks on the back door, and several fire extinguishers in the building had been discharged, causing white powder to be everywhere.

The officer contacted Amy Hellmann, who the officer knew to be a manager at People’s State Bank of Plainview, to tell her about what he had found. Amy’s husband, Joe, came to the Eagles Nest Bar to do an inventory of what was missing and what damage had been done to the building. He reported the tables had all been moved and someone had put cardboard over all of the windows, according to the complaint.

Arrests

While clearing the scene, Officer Rud received a call saying the two men were walking past the Eagles Nest at that time. At around 5 p.m., the officer observed the two men walking along Center Street with two other people, according to the complaint.

Smith and another man were placed under arrest. Both men admitted they had been inside the Eagle’s Nest a number of times. Neither man admitted breaking into the bar but said they had found the door open and had gone inside to hang out. The two men said there were other people who had been inside of the bar as well but that they did not know any names.

Joe Hellman supervised the cleanup of the Eagles Nest Bar and gave receipts showing the costs involved, which included 53 man hours of cleaning. The cleaning included four toilets that had been filled with excrement with no running water; replacing five fire extinguishers; replacing one window;  renting a Dumpster; and purchasing cleaning supplies. The total cost was $2,629.03, according to the complaint.

Assault

Smith also is charged in Dunn County with the sexual assault of a child under the age of 16.

Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin reported that on September 22, a girl had reported to him she and 19-year-old Hunter Smith had sexual intercourse at a residence in Boyceville twice, according to the complaint.

The first incident occurred in April, and the second incident occurred several days later.

The girl told Police Chief Lamkin that Smith was aware of her age because she had told him she was 14 years old prior to engaging in sexual intercourse.

Smith is scheduled to make an initial appearance on the three felony charges in Dunn County Circuit October 24 before Judge James Peterson at 10:45 a.m.