By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 21-year-old Wheeler man charged with two counts of armed robbery at Peoples State Bank in Boyceville and at U-Fuel near Elk Mound was driving an older Ford Escape he had borrowed.
Daniel J.R. Hoffman is charged with two felony counts of armed robbery with the use of a dangerous weapon.
According to the criminal complaints, Hoffmann admitted to investigators he had robbed both Peoples State Bank and U-Fuel.
At around 8:26 a.m. October 1, Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin was dispatched to Peoples Bank in Boyceville on a report of an armed robbery.
A bank employee told Police Chief Lamkin the suspect had displayed a silver handgun and had demanded money. The suspect then fled from the bank on foot, the complaint states.
On October 11 at about 12:57 p.m., Dunn County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched on a report of an armed robbery at U-Fuel on 850th Street in the Town of Elk Mound.
The U-Fuel clerk described the suspect as a 20 to 30 year old white male, between 5’9” and 5’10” tall, medium build, blue eyes and wearing a light tan jacket and blue jeans. The suspect had covered the lower part of his face with a bandana before he entered the U-Fuel store, the complaint states.
The robber had come from the area of the tattoo shop and the Juicy Shrimp Shack, to the south of U-Fuel, had displayed a silver handgun and had placed a bag on the counter and told the clerk to put the money from the cash register into it, according to the complaint.
Investigators obtained a photograph from a security camera at the storage units north of U-Fuel, and the possible suspect vehicle was older blue Ford Escape. The images were posted on Facebook in an attempt to gain additional information, the complaint states.
Later that day, a woman contacted one of the deputies at the Dunn County Jail lobby and said she had received information from her daughter that David Hoffman was a suspect in the Peoples State Bank robbery in Boyceville on October 1. The woman said she had reviewed the photograph posted online from the U-Fuel robbery and that the suspect was Hoffman according to the complaint.
The woman said she was the owner of the Ford Escape, and Hoffman had been using it for approximately the last month. The woman also said Hoffman owns a silver handgun, the complaint states.
Hoffman was later located and arrested at 2521 Highway 25 in Menomonie, which is the address for Menomonie 7 Theatre.
“Later, the defendant provided a full confession to Investigator Knotz and Investigator Mack, in which he admitted to the robbery at U-Fuel, Elk Mound, Wisconsin,” according to the complaint.
Hoffman made an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court before Judge Rod Smeltzer October 16.
Hoffman requested a speedy preliminary hearing, and Judge Smeltzer set the preliminary for October 23.
Bail was set at $10,000 cash at the bail hearing October 14 for the U-Fuel robbery.
Hoffman told the court he would only be able to obtain $1,000 in cash from his family.
Judge Smeltzer also set bail at $10,000 cash for the People’s State Bank robbery at the October 16 hearing and with the condition that Hoffman is to have no contact with Peoples State Bank in Boyceville.
The bail amounts in both cases are concurrent, meaning Hoffman would only have to post $10,000 in cash once to get out of custody.
Armed robbery is a Class C felony that carries a possible penalty for each count, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $100,000 cash and/or 40 years in prison.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Hoffman in Dunn County Circuit Court October 23 at 2:30 p.m.
