A 48 year old Merrill man was arrested Tuesday evening after deputies investigated a sexual assault at a Town of Scott home. Deputies and EMS responded to the apartment building just before 2 a.m., after a cell 911 call reported a woman needed help. The victim told deputies she had been drinking with her neighbor when she woke up naked in her bedroom. The suspect told deputies the pair had consensual sex before she passed out and he placed her on a plastic sled and drug her home. The suspect was taken into custody on a felony charge of a second degree sexual assault of an intoxicated victim and a misdemeanor charge of public fornication. At a bond hearing on Wednesday, the suspect was released from custody after a Lincoln County Judge set a $1,500 cash bond, which he was able to post.
Deputies closed part of County Rd. J on Tuesday evening after finding a school bus in the ditch. A patrol deputy came across the bus in the ditch on County Rd J just east of State Rd 107 in the Town of Rock Falls at 8 p.m. The bus driver explained he had one child left to drop off when he took a wrong turn on County Rd. J and as he attempted to turn around he became stuck in the ditch. The child was not injured and was taken home by a deputy. Rod’s Towing of Merrill came to the scene and used their big rig to tow the un-damaged bus from the ditch, which allowed deputies to open the road at about 9:30 p.m.
An 18 year old Tomahawk man was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon on a warrant charge. The man came to the lobby of the Lincoln County Jail after he learned that a felony warrant had been issued for him by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for violating terms of his probation. The man was taken into custody on the warrant charge and booked into the Lincoln County Jail.
A 39 year old Tomahawk woman will face an additional count of burglary after deputies were able to identify stolen property this past week. A resident of the Town of King called the Sheriff’s Office after he saw media reports that a burglary suspect had been arrested after committing crimes near his house. The homeowner was concerned because rings belonging to his wife had disappeared during the month of September. The woman was able to match the missing items with jewelry that had been pawned in Schofield back in September and was seized by deputies. The woman has been previously charged with burglaries in Lincoln County but remains free after being released by a Lincoln County Judge. Just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, deputies went to the woman’s home in the Town of Harrison and took her into custody on a felony warrant through Langlade County charging her with burglary. The woman was brought to the county line and turned over to Langlade County deputies there.
Pine River Firefighters and a deputy responded to an alarm call just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday. A resident in the 4000 block of State Rd. 64 called 911 after smoke detectors in his home started sounding. The deputy and firefighters checked the house for about an hour but could find no trouble.
Deputies and a trooper from the Wisconsin State Patrol closed US Hwy. 51 northbound for a short time on Monday morning after a car fire. At 9:19 a.m. a cell 911 caller reported that a Lincoln Town Car was burning on US Hwy. 51 north of County Rd. C. When a deputy arrived on the scene minutes later, he found the engine compartment engulfed in flames. Firefighters from the Merrill Fire Department extinguished the flames and the highway was re-opened within an hour.
Deputies would like to thank the public for their support after a brat fry was held this past Saturday in Merrill. The Lincoln County Professional Deputies Association held the brat fry at Dave’s County Market to support the McCluskey family of western Wisconsin. Dan McCluskey is a police officer and the K9 officer for the City of Onalaska Police Department. His 14 year old son Aidan suffers from a renal failure and is in need of a kidney transplant. As Dan’s wife Megan was going through the process of donating her kidney to their son, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer which has disqualified her to be a donor to Aidan. While the family was dealing with health issues they lost their home to a fire at the end of July. Deputies served up food for about four hours on Saturday and had several walk up donors who wished to donate to the McCluskey family. In all over $700 will be donated to the family fund. The Lincoln County Professional Deputies Association has a long history of assisting law enforcement officers and families throughout the state of Wisconsin who are suffering from tragedy.
The number of car deer crashes had decreased dramatically with only four of them being reported this past week. Three bear were also struck, on Thursday evening a bear was struck on US Hwy. 51 near County Rd H by a Tomahawk man, on Friday during the early evening a Neenah woman struck a bear on US Hwy. 8 a half a mile west of County Rd. Y and just before midnight on Friday a Illinois woman struck a bear on US Hwy. 51 just north of County Rd. C.