Snow caused problems on the roadways early in the week and kept deputies busy. Although no major amount of snow fell, motorists were encountering heavy snow squalls which would saturate an area quickly and leave roads slick. Two people received minor injuries after a two-vehicle crash on US Hwy 51. A vehicle being driven by a 62-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man lost control and skidded out in front of a tow truck from Antigo causing the tow truck to strike the passenger car on its side. Both the driver and his passenger, a 60-year-old Wisconsin Rapids woman were transported to Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center in Merrill, where they were treated and released. The two truck driver, a 57-year-old Antigo man, was not injured.
A vehicle fire in the Town of Russell was quickly extinguished on Tuesday afternoon. A 911 call from the Remington Oil Station in Gleason reported an SUV on fire in the parking lot at 1:22 p.m. The Town of Russell Fire Chief was on scene a few minutes later and advised bystanders had extinguished the fire using fire extinguishers. Firefighters still checked the vehicle and a deputy responded and took a report as well.
The Town of Russell Fire Department responded to a chimney fire on Wednesday in the Langlade County Town of Summit. At 2:20 p.m., a report was received of the fire at a home in the 14000 block of County Rd J. Russell Firefighters were on the scene for over an hour. Town of Russell provides fire protection to the Town of Summit under contract.
A 23-year-old Gleason man, formerly of Stevens Point, was taken into custody on Wednesday evening on a warrant charge. Deputies went to a residence on Lilac Lane and took the man into custody just before 6 p.m. The Stevens Point Police Department had requested the man be arrested after a warrant was issued charging him with first degree sexual assault of a child, repeated sexual assault of a child and child enticement for offenses that took place in their city. The man was brought to the Lincoln County Jail where he was held overnight before being transferred to Portage County on Thursday morning.
A 34-year-old Merrill man was arrested early Thursday morning after a deputy investigated a vehicle in the ditch in the Town of Scott. When a deputy arrived, the driver had left the scene but was found walking nearby. He refused to do field sobriety tests and when he was brought to the hospital for a blood draw he became disorderly and resisted deputies’ efforts to put him back in the squad car. The suspect was brought to the Lincoln County Jail where he was booked on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, along with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated third offense. At a bond hearing Thursday afternoon, the suspect was released on a $200 cash bond.
A Town of Merrill woman was contacted by a would-be scammer on Thursday morning. The woman had gone on a web site of a funeral home in south central Wisconsin and left an online condolence for a family friend who had passed away. The scammer used the link on the web site that allows others to see the email addresses of those posting and sent her an email informing her that due to a car crash involving other family members she was now the beneficiary of the man’s estate which was valued at over one million dollars. The scammer asked the woman to forward her bank account numbers and he would begin the process of sending her the money. Instead the woman called the Sheriff’s Office. The funeral home was also contacted and they were going to alert others about the scam; they have also removed the email link from their web page.
A 30-year-old Gleason man was arrested on Friday afternoon after a deputy investigated a report of a disturbance that had taken place Wednesday night. The victim phoned the Sheriff’s Office and advised while she was at a tavern in the Town of King her ex-boyfriend showed up and caused a disturbance during which he struck her in the back of the head. The victim did not report the incident until Thursday and the suspect went to the Tomahawk Police Department on Friday to speak to the deputy about the case. It was there that he was arrested on a charge of battery. He was brought to the Lincoln County Jail where he was able to post bond and be released.
A 53-year-old Merrill woman was arrested Saturday evening on a probation violation charge. Deputies went to the woman’s home in the Town of Pine River on Eagle Ridge Lane after being notified by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections that the woman had violated rules of her probation. She was taken into custody without incident and brought to the Lincoln County Jail.
Seven people struck deer last week, up slightly from last week’s total. On Wednesday, a 16-year-old Irma woman was not injured but sustained damage to her vehicle after she struck a horse. The crash took place on County Rd H near Grundy Rd. The horse was later located back in the pasture with no apparent injuries.