By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — An Elk Mound High School student charged in Dunn County in connection with making terrorist threats has reached a plea deal.
The defendant, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, appeared with his attorney, Shelly Tomtschik, before Judge Rod Smeltzer for a plea hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court June 15.
The young man was charged with one felony count of making terrorist threats and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
Tomtschik told the court the matter was resolved with a deferred prosecution agreement.
Judge Smeltzer deferred the defendant’s guilty plea for 24 months on the charge of making terrorist threats and accepted the guilty plea on the charge of disorderly conduct.
The young man was ordered to pay $243 in court costs and a $200 DNA surcharge.
If the defendant successfully completes the deferred prosecution agreement, expungement of his record will be allowed, Judge Smeltzer said.
A review hearing in the case to determine whether the young man has successfully completed the deferred prosecution agreement is scheduled for June 13, 2022.
According to the criminal complaint, at shortly before 8 a.m. February 6, Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger received a telephone call from Paul Kling, principal at Elk Mound High School, who said a student had sent threatening text messages regarding staff at the high school and asked Police Chief Weinberger to immediately come to the high school.
Police Chief Weinberger met with Kling and the staff member who had received the text messages. The staff member said she works with the teenager, who has had many difficulties in his life but had previously been thought of as a good student.
The defendant’s mother and father were out of the country, and the defendant had been missing school, the staff member said.
According to the criminal complaint, the school’s safety plan was implemented, and deputies from the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department assisted with security at the school while other deputies from Dunn County and Police Chief Weinberger responded to the defendant’s residence.
The 17-year-old was not initially located at the residence, but the teenager’s siblings confirmed there were firearms in the residence, although the teenager did not have access to the firearms. The siblings said the firearms were all accounted for, the complaint states.
The defendant was located as he was returning home, and he consented to go to the Elk Mound Police Department for a follow-up.
