Waukesha - The mother of a member of the Waukesha West High School girl's varsity basketball team has obtained a court order barring the team's former assistant coach from having contact with her.
The girl's mother was granted a two-year injunction after a hearing Monday afternoon before Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren.
The mother made the request in a filing last week in which she contends that Brandon Graser, 24, had at least four late-night rendezvous with her 16-year-old daughter that involved "kissing/necking" after the girl sneaked out of the house. The mother also contends that Graser picked up her daughter in his car for the late night meetings "and drove her back to his apartment."
The mother says she first learned of her daughter's involvement with Graser when Waukesha police telephoned her at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 14 and reported that the girl was found with Graser in his car.
Graser, who left his position with the high school earlier this month, did not appear at the hearing, but was represented by an attorney who could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Waukesha - The Waukesha Taxpayers League has agreed to pay a $25 forfeiture to settle a complaint that it did not register properly before campaigning against the Waukesha School District's referendum attempt earlier this year.
Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher cited the group earlier this month for not registering as a referendum group, as is required by state law.
In addition to the $25 forfeiture, Bucher said he would recommend that if the taxpayers league pleads no contest, the group also will have to pay court administration costs. That could push the taxpayers league's total payment above $100, Bucher said.
Taxpayers league co-president Christine Lufter said her group has since filed the proper paperwork with the school district. She said the group had been filing financial forms as a political action committee and was not aware it needed to file different forms as a referendum group.
"This was not an intentional error," she said. "It was just something we didn't understand."
Brookfield - A man who implied he had a weapon robbed North Shore Bank and fled with an undisclosed amount of money, police Capt. Phil Horter said Monday.
Police were called to the bank at 15830 W. Capitol Drive at 10:25 a.m., Saturday. The man gave the teller a note that stated it was a robbery. No one saw a weapon or saw him flee in a vehicle, Horter said.
The man is described as white, between 25 and 30 years old, 5 foot 9 inches to 6 foot tall, medium build and having several days of beard growth. He was wearing a baseball cap, hooded sweatshirt, baggy pants and appeared dirty and unkempt, Horter said.
Waukesha - A former restaurant employee has been charged with stealing $16,000 from a Waukesha eatery.
Tessa L. Wahlen, 44, of Brookfield has been ordered to make her initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court Nov. 2 on a felony theft charge.
The manager of Culver's Restaurant at 840 W. Sunset Drive discovered that money was taken from the establishment between July 2 and 26.
He contacted police on July 29 and reported that he suspected Wahlen of stealing money she was supposed to deposit in a bank account as part of her duties as assistant manager.
The bank confirmed that four deposits had not been made, and the manager suspected that Wahlen took the money to fund her gambling habit.
When she was questioned by police, Wahlen said she used some of the money to pay bills and buy groceries, but about $12,000 went into video gambling machines at a bowling alley.
Wahlen said she had none of the stolen money left but was willing to repay the restaurant what she took.
Waukesha - A man with five drunken driving convictions has been charged with committing the crime for the sixth time.
Joseph M. Westcott, 35, of Milwaukee was charged with felony drunken driving in a criminal complaint that says he was arrested about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 17, after a police officer stopped him on suspicion of erratic driving on Greenfield Ave. in New Berlin. Westcott was convicted of drunken driving twice in 1990 and once each in 1992, 1993 and 1994. He is scheduled to appear in Waukesha County Circuit Court for a hearing in the case next on Nov. 21.
Waukesha - A Sussex man with four drunken driving convictions has been charged with committing the offense for the fifth time.
When he made his initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court last week on a felony drunken driving charge, Fred W. Cooley, 37, waived his preliminary hearing in the case and was ordered to return to court for arraignment Nov. 7.
Cooley was charged in a criminal complaint that says a Lannon police officer began following the truck Cooley was driving on Good Hope road after another motorist reported that the vehicle was weaving down the road.
Cooley drove the flatbed truck slowly and erratically west along the road before eventually turning abruptly in the direction of a tavern parking lot, jumping a curb and dragging two boulders beneath the truck before eventually coming to a stop, the complaint says.
Cooley was convicted of drunken driving once in 1993, twice in 1994 and once in 2000.
Waukesha - Daniel Guetzke, 43, of Germantown was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Oct. 17 with felony drunken driving - his fifth drunken driving offense - and ordered to return to court Nov. 7 for a preliminary hearing.
A criminal complaint says that a Lisbon police officer stopped Guetzke for erratic driving about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, after his car repeatedly crossed the center line on Highway 164.
Guetzke denied drinking but failed field sobriety tests and performed a preliminary breath test indicating he had an alcohol concentration of 0.24 in his system.
A level of 0.08 is considered legal proof of intoxication in Wisconsin, but motorists with three or more drunken driving convictions are prohibited from driving with a level of 0.02 or higher.
Guetzke was convicted of drunken driving once in 1995, twice in 2000 and once in 2003.
Police in Germantown and Menomonee Falls said they will be requesting that new charges be filed against a Hartford man accused of placing pictures of his genitals on cars belonging to women shoppers.
In addition, police in the city of Waukesha are investigating another report that the same crime may have been committed there.
Germantown Police Chief Peter Hoell said he is requesting that Jeffrey J. Hein, 40, be charged with one count of lewd and lascivious behavior and one of disorderly conduct stemming from an incident that occurred in mid-September in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the Germantown police station.
In that incident, a woman found a sealed envelope in her car. Inside the envelope was a snapshot of a man's genitalia.
Menomonee Falls Police Lt. James Konapacki said his department also will seek charges against Hein in Waukesha County Circuit Court for two incidents that allegedly occurred last Wednesday at the Target store parking lot there.
Waukesha - A Village of Pewaukee man has been charged with defrauding a Georgia man out of more than $4,000 by selling him phony antique Japanese swords in an Internet auction.
Matthew James Gehrt, 24, has been ordered to make his initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court Nov. 2 on a felony theft charge.
Gehrt was charged in a criminal complaint that says the 59-year-old man paid him $4,750 for the swords which Gehrt listed as "authentic Japanese swords which were antique."
After they arrived, however, the Georgia man discovered that the swords had been stamped "Made in China," and were worth just $700, the complaint says.
After failing to resolve the matter with Gehrt through e-mail and telephone conversations, the Georgia man contacted Village of Pewaukee police who subsequently seized dozens of swords, sabers and daggers from Gehrt's apartment as part of their investigation, according to court records.
Muskego - A man who fell off a ladder onto a concrete slab in one of the city's sewage lift stations died of multiple injuries, the Waukesha County medical examiner said Tuesday.
Thomas G. Bolan, 53, of the City of Pewaukee was tightening a flange above the lift station along Woods Road near Sandy Beach Drive when he fell Monday, police had said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Further investigation showed Bolan fell 22½ feet into the dry shaft, said Capt. Paul Geiszler. The ladder was on a catwalk above the lift station.
Bolan worked for Milwaukee-based Faust Co. Inc., a mechanical and engineering firm often used by manufacturers and municipalities.
Hartland - A Brookfield-based company that makes pharmaceuticals and other health care products has won approval from the Village Board to build a manufacturing plant in a local business park.
The Triad Group will build a 206,888-square-foot facility in the Geason Commerce Center near Highway 83.
Earlier this month, the village's Plan Commission had recommended approval for the building.
Developer James Luterbach earlier had received the go-ahead from the village to begin grading on the site.
Triad, which has its offices in Brookfield, operates round-the-clock manufacturing plants in Mukwonago and the City of Pewaukee and has a warehouse in the City of Pewaukee.
It employs about 225 people in those four locations.
At the Plan Commission meeting on Oct. 17, Eric Haertle, one of the company's owners, said the company's sites were scattered and there was a need to "get our people together."
Haertle has said he plans to close some of the other facilities.
Triad was founded in 1976 by Haertle's father, Richard. It is owned by the Haertle family, and Eric Haertle's brother, David, is president.
The company makes ointments, antiseptic lotions, baby wipes, acne pads and other health care products.
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