District Court, Kandiyohi County
- Two men were arraigned Tuesday in connection with an altercation in Spicer during which the victims were pummeled and their cell phones taken away before they could call 911.
Justin Willprecht, 26, of Spicer and Mitchell Gauer, 24, of Belgrade each face nine criminal charges, including felony first-degree aggravated robbery. They made their first court appearances Tuesday before Judge Michael J. Thompson.
The assault took place Feb. 21 at Willprecht's home in Spicer, where the victims -- a woman and her boyfriend -- had gone to pick up a calculator they had left there after helping Willprecht's brother with his homework.
According to court records, the couple was met by four or five assailants who got into the back seat of their car and began hitting the boyfriend in the head with their fists. The woman was struck in the eye.
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The assailants took away the couple's cell phones and the keys to the car. Then they stood outside the car while the woman pleaded to let her and her boyfriend leave, according to the complaint filed in court. The assailants also told the boyfriend he would have to get out of the car and fight them if he wanted his keys and cell phone back. The standoff lasted for almost an hour.
Willprecht faces three counts of first-degree aggravated robbery, one count of theft, one count of interfering with a 911 call, two counts of fifth-degree assault, one count of abetting an assault, and one count of third-degree riot.
Gauer is charged with one count of first-degree aggravated robbery, two counts of interfering with a 911 call, one count each of riot and theft, two counts of abetting a fifth-degree assault, and two counts of abetting a first-degree aggravated robbery.
The penalty for felony-level aggravated robbery could be up to 20 years in prison, a $35,000 fine or both.
Conditional bonds for both Willprecht and Gauer were set at $10,000 Tuesday. They also were ordered to have no contact with the victims and are barred from being at either victim's home or place of work or at Ridgewater College.
- A Willmar man made his first appearance in court Tuesday on five felony-level charges stemming from a burglary and altercation Feb. 22 at an apartment in Willmar.
Timothy J. Dewane, 19, is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of making terroristic threats.
Judge Michael J. Thompson set conditional bond at $7,500.
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According to court records, Dewane was among a group of young men who went to the apartment on 24th Street Northwest, armed with a couple of baseball bats, to confront a man who they accused of breaking into one of their cars.
Four people were in the apartment at the time. The group of assailants kicked the door until it was opened. Inside the apartment, the assailants yelled for the man they suspected of the car break-in and pointed a bat at one of the people in the apartment.
When they left, they took an X-box and three controllers with them, according to the court record. The confrontation continued outside the apartment building, where one of the victims was threatened with having his teeth knocked out by a baseball bat.
Willmar Police arrived on the scene at around 9:15 p.m., after someone reported a burglary in progress. A police officer chased three of the suspects on foot; one was arrested at the scene. Additional details were pieced together after an investigation and interviews of witnesses, leading to Dewane's arrest.
- Eleazar Gutierrez Sr. of Willmar received a stayed sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty to making terroristic threats. A charge of second-degree assault was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.
Gutierrez, 48, also was ordered by Judge Kathryn Smith to pay a $1,000 fine. The judge placed him on probation for five years as well. Gutierrez was given credit for 143 days he had already spent in jail.
He was accused of forcing a woman out of her car at knifepoint after an argument on Aug. 6, then driving away while her 13-year-old son was still in the vehicle. The boy was later released unhurt.
The following day, Aug. 7, a Willmar Police officer drove past Gutierrez's last known address in Willmar and spotted a vehicle parked there that matched the description of the car involved in the previous day's incident. The car was impounded and a search uncovered three knives, including a butterfly knife, a butter knife and a blade and handle.
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Seven Renville County arrests made for DWI
OLIVIA -- Seven people were arrested in Renville County this past weekend for driving while impaired.
The arrests are part of an ongoing effort by the Renville County Sheriff's Department and county police departments to target drunken driving.
Of the seven arrests made over the weekend, one was for a drug-related DWI. Since Jan. 1, 29 people have been arrested in the county for driving while impaired, including six who were driving while impaired by drugs.
Since Jan. 1, five tickets also have been handed out for underage consumption.
Renville County law enforcement agencies issued a reminder of the importance of having a designated driver. Designating a sober driver should be done whenever plans are being made that might involve alcohol consumption, said Sheriff Jerry Agre.
