WILLMAR -- Michael S. Schulz was arraigned Monday in Kandiyohi County District Court on two felony charges stemming from a weekend domestic assault that included a wild ride in a pickup for the alleged victim and a police search through a cornfield to find the 24-year-old Willmar man.
Judge Kathryn N. Smith set unconditional bail at $70,000 and conditional bail at $35,000 for Schulz. Conditions in-clude that Schulz have no contact with the alleged victim, be excluded from her residence and possess no firearms or dangerous weapons.
The felony charges include kidnapping to commit great bodily harm or terrorize and terroristic threats. Schulz is also facing four additional gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges for domestic assault, reckless driving and interfering with a 911 call.
According to the complaint, Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputies were called around 2:45 p.m. Saturday to a northwest Willmar address for an open 911 call.
When the deputies arrived, they were flagged down by a man who told them a female in the back of a speeding pickup had hollered at him to call 911. The witness told deputies that the pickup turned around, was traveling at a high rate of speed and didn't slow for a turn. The woman yelled again to call 911. The driver parked the truck and ran away into a cornfield when he heard the sirens of the sheriff's office squad cars, according to the complaint.
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The woman told police that she and Schulz had argued, that he threw her into a wall and a door in her home and that he yelled at her and said he was going to kill her. She ran outside to the garage with a phone to call 911 and got into the pickup bed to collect some belongings when he drove the vehicle down the driveway. She said he was swerving in an attempt to get her to fall out of the bed of the truck, the complaint states. Eventually, she was able to persuade him to take her home because her son was alone there. She said she had hollered at the witness to call 911.
The woman also told police she has a no contact order against Schulz.
Deputies used the department's canine unit to track Schulz in the cornfield. The dog indicated that he was backtracking and circling in the field. However, the dog was able to find Schulz and deputies arrested him.
In an interview with deputies, Schulz said he went to the house to get some clothing and that the woman wouldn't let him leave, that she slapped and threatened him. He admitted that he took off with her in the back of the pickup and that he heard her screaming to the neighbors, the complaint states.
He said he ran because of a pending sentencing in another domestic assault case. According to court records, Schulz is due to be sentenced Sept. 18 on a gross misdemeanor charge of interfering with a 911 call. He pleaded guilty to that charge on July 26 and had faced three additional misdemeanors for domestic assault and disorderly conduct involving the same woman involved in the weekend incident.
Schulz's next court appearance is Sept. 24.
