A 68-year-old Gleason man was arrested early Tuesday morning after a deputy responded to a vehicle in the ditch. The deputy was traveling south on County Rd. S coming out of Tomahawk when he saw vehicle tracks in the newly fallen snow that were all over the roadway. As the deputy was coming south on County Rd. H, the Lincoln County Highway Department advised a vehicle had slid off the road into the ditch near County Rd. V. When the deputy arrived minutes later, he found the 68-year-old in the ditch. After noting signs of impairment, the man was asked to perform field sobriety tests, which he refused. He was taken into custody on a felony fifth offense charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. After testing, the man was booked into the Lincoln County Jail where he was held until Thursday when he was able to post a cash bond and be released.
Deputies along with the Merrill and the Town of Russell Fire Departments responded to a report of a structure fire in the Town of Rock Falls on North Shore Rd Tuesday morning at 7:05 a.m. While deputies were investigating the fire, they learned that the property owner, a 63-year-old man from Jackson, WI was on bond through Marathon County Court for a pending criminal traffic matter. In speaking with deputies, they suspected he had been drinking and administered a breath test which confirmed the man had been drinking alcohol in violation of his bond. The man also admitted to driving that morning which is also a violation of his bond. The man was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of bail jumping. He was brought to the Lincoln County Jail where he was held until Tuesday afternoon, when he able to post a cash bond and be released.
Although cold weather has been in the area for the past week, the Rec. Deputy is still urging caution on the ice as the temperature appears it will fluctuate this week. On Tuesday morning, a deputy had to shut down County Rd. Y for a couple of hours as an ice shack that had broken through the ice on Lake Nokomis was removed. Two wreckers were used to pull the ice shack from the water and back onto dry land. The information was turned over to the DNR.
A 22-year-old Tomahawk man was arrested this past Wednesday evening on a felony count of bail jumping. Deputies and officers from the Merrill and Tomahawk Police Departments arrested the man at his town of Bradley Home in October and charged him with five felonies, including possession with intent to deliver marijuana, maintain a drug trafficking place and three counts of delivery of marijuana. The suspect was initially held on a $5,000 cash bond but at a hearing at the end of November the bond was reduced to a signature bond and $2,500 cash. The suspect posted the bond and less than a week later deputies learned he was out of his home past the curfew that was set in the bond. The suspect was located and arrested Wednesday evening and brought to the Lincoln County Jail. At a bond hearing on Thursday, the suspect was released on a signature bond.
Deputies were kept busy early in the week as snow and ice caused problems on area roadways. Snow started on Tuesday afternoon and deputies were still dealing with slide offs on Wednesday into the early evening hours. Nineteen vehicles slid into the ditch while four crashes were investigated. One of the slide offs led to minor injuries. Two Gleason residents were trying to pull a vehicle out of the ditch on County Rd. D at Crass Rd when a 35-year-old Gleason man became pinned between the two vehicles. The incident occurred at 12:45 and was witnessed by a Tomahawk Officer who was providing lights. The man was transported by Tomahawk EMS to Ministry Sacred Heart Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
A trooper checking on a disabled vehicle led to a felony drug arrest. On Thursday around 5 p.m., the trooper stopped to check on a vehicle stalled on US Hwy. 51 near County Rd. S south of Tomahawk. The occupants of the vehicle, a 24-year-old Park Falls man, formerly of Merrill, and a 21-year-old Park Falls woman acted suspicious and the trooper called for assistance including the Tomahawk Police Departments K9 Unit and a Lincoln County Deputy. When the dog indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle, a search turned up methamphetamine and marijuana along with drug paraphernalia. The man was booked into the Lincoln County Jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana as a repeat offender and possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia. He was also charged with two misdemeanor and one felony count of bail jumping for violating terms of his bonds in Lincoln County Court for previous charges including theft, marijuana and methamphetamine charges. At a bond hearing on Friday, a Lincoln County Judge set a $1,000 cash bond which the suspect posted and was released this weekend. The passenger was booked and later released on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
A 53-year-old Merrill woman was taken into custody on Thursday evening on a charge of probation violation. Deputies went to the woman’s home on Eagle Ridge Lane in the Town of Pine River at 9 p.m. at the request of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections after it was learned the woman violated terms of her probation.
A 43-year-old Merrill woman was injured after a two vehicle crash Friday morning in the Town of Merrill. A deputy responded to Hillside Drive just west of County Rd. K at 7:31 a.m. after a 911 caller reported a two vehicle crash. A short time later, another caller indicated the female passenger of one of the vehicles was injured. According to the deputy’s report, a vehicle being driven by a 44-year-old Merrill man was traveling east on Hillside Drive when he rear-ended a truck being operated by a 37-year-old Merrill man that was stopped on the side of the road. The passenger was transported by Merrill EMS to Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center; the 44-year-old driver was cited for inattentive driving.
Only four people reported striking deer this past week.