MONROE — Cash bond was set at $10,000 for a Belleville man charged with beating a woman so brutally she told police she feared for her life.
Patrick Howard Roper, 43, is jailed on felony charges of stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, intimidation of a victim by use of threat, bail jumping and possession of cocaine. He’s also charged with misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct and battery.
He stood mute on the charges Tuesday, Sept. 3, and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
The court allowed a surety bond of $9,000 and cash bond of $1,000 in lieu of $10,000 in cash, however Roper was still trying to find someone to act as surety at the time of the hearing. The first person he designated as the surety refused to sign. Roper is next in court for a pre-trial conference Sept. 17.
The case stems from a series of incidents Aug. 22 between New Glarus and Belleville.
According to the criminal complaint, filed Aug. 26:
A passerby reported to New Glarus police that he was concerned about “a random course of events” he had just witnessed on Hoesly Drive. He saw two parked pickup trucks and heard a woman screaming as a man wrapped her in his arms, threw her into one of the trucks and drove off, leaving behind one of the pickup trucks and a female Rottweiler dog.
The Rottweiler was still running around when police arrived. Lt. Jeff Sturdevant noted the dog, which belongs to the victim, was friendly and he was able to catch it without an issue and “temporarily tied it to a tree while I continued my investigation.” The dog and her owner were eventually reunited.
The investigation led Sturdevant to an area hospital, where the woman was being treated for injuries.
She said Roper, with whom she had been in a relationship, followed her that morning to a pet food store in New Glarus.
He was waiting for her in his truck when she came out of the store, she said. He told her “we need to have a talk,” then began beating her with a clenched fist, pushed her into the passenger seat of the truck and, as she went into a fetal position, continued striking her while calling her “every filthy name in the book” and telling her he was going to kill her, she said.
She estimated he punched her over 50 times, including at least 10 times in the head. He then grabbed her and carried her back to his truck as she screamed for help. She said he told her he “would get some sex out of her first, off in the woods,” then kill her, and she believed him.
As he started driving, she began bleeding “excessively” from her face, causing “a large mess” of blood on the passenger seat. Eventually he stopped driving in what she believed to be the area of Donald County Park near Mount Vernon.
She told Sturdevant the beating was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her life. Sturdevant noted serious injuries including a deep bruise in the shape of a shoe where she said Roper had kicked her and a series of marks on her back where he had stabbed her with his crack pipe.
When asked if she wanted to write a statement about the incident, “she said she did not want anything in her own writing that he could use against her because she was scared of what he may do to her,” Sturdevant noted. She said Roper had a history of physical violence against her, including breaking into her house and breaking one of her ribs.
A search of Roper’s vehicle turned up a “white rock substance” that tested positive for cocaine, along with a Chore Boy scouring pad with pieces torn off. A piece of scouring pad is commonly used as a filter in a crack pipe.
Court records show a criminal record for Roper going back to 1994, when he was convicted of battery. Over the years he’s been convicted of burglary, theft, unemployment compensation fraud, receiving stolen property, theft by contractor and forgery.