Green County Circuit Court

Felonies

●  Benjamin L. Gritzmaker, 34, Brodhead, pleaded no contest Jan. 11 to a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run, downgraded from a felony charge of hit-and-run involving injury. He was sentenced to one year on probation, with conditions that he undergo counseling and pay restitution. His court assessments total $2,124.13. The case stems from an accident Aug. 28 at 10th Street and East 9th Avenue in Brodhead, in front of County Line Beverage. Gritzmaker reportedly pulled out of the liquor store’s parking lot into the path of an oncoming vehicle, collided with it and then drove off. The other driver reported injuries and bruising. When interviewed by police, Gritzmaker said it was raining at the time of the accident and he was thinking about other things and hit a car. He told police “he panicked and had anxiety so he left the scene.” He parked the car elsewhere in Brodhead and walked around in the rain until he went to see his father, who told him to go to police.

●  Brian Allan Ingle, 31, Green County Jail, pleaded guilty March 5 to a Class H felony charge of committing battery as a prisoner. He was sentenced to 30 months on probation. He owes $518 in court assessments. The case stems from an incident Nov. 16 at the Green County Jail. Court records indicate the victim “had blood on his shirt and pants and was bleeding from the nose and mouth” and “appeared wobbly and shaky on his feet.” The victim reported Ingle and another inmate were talking about a child molester and the victim told them to keep him out of it, but the “next thing I know I’m getting beat up.”

●  Michael John Boroczk Jr., 27, New Glarus, was charged Feb. 25 with a Class I felony count of maintaining a drug-trafficking place, six counts of felony bail jumping and a misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia, but the case was dismissed without prejudice March 19. Court documents indicate Boroczk has been accepted into the Dane County Drug Court Program and a condition of his participation is to not have other pending cases. “Accordingly,” District Attorney Craig Nolen wrote in a motion, “the state believes that it is in the best interest of the public and of the defendant that (the case) be dismissed.” The case stems from an investigation into an anonymous tip in January that “gram quantities of methamphetamine” were being kept at a home in the 1300 block of 2nd Street in New Glarus. A search warrant yielded about “150 used syringes located throughout the master bedroom,” among other items of drug paraphernalia. Court records also indicate people were using heroin in the residence, and there had been a recent overdose. Boroczk’s co-defendant, Mariana Joy Skare, 20, Beaver Dam, told police there was no meth left in the house because they had used it all. She was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Her case is still pending.

●  Scott E. Wald, 42, Beloit, entered a two-year deferred prosecution agreement March 20 on a Class I felony charge of fleeing an officer in a vehicle. Two Class G felony counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety were dismissed. He is ordered to attend quarterly monitoring conferences and abide by his rules of probation in a similar case in Rock County. Court records indicate on Sept. 16, police responded to a request for a welfare check on Wald and located him in the parking lot of Legion Park in Brodhead. Wald then reportedly led multiple officers on a high-speed chase to Albany, failing to stop his vehicle for stop signs, avoiding stop sticks laid out by police and nearly hitting two people along the way.

●  Shane David Thrun, 26, Albany, pleaded no contest March 21 to a sex registry violation, a Class H felony, and a domestic abuse-related felony charge of criminal damage to property. Charges of false imprisonment and disorderly conduct were dismissed. He was sentenced to six months in jail, with Huber work release privileges, minus 60 days of sentence credit. Court records indicate he failed to report an address change from Stoughton to Albany to the state sex offender registry. The violation was discovered when police responded to his home in Albany on Jan. 20 for reports of “banging, slamming and yelling and a female voice saying ‘You need to let go’” in the apartment. The victim, who was pregnant, was in tears and breathing heavily. She told police she and Thrun got into an argument over a TV show. She said he shattered a glass against the wall, and when she tried to leave, blocked her from leaving, took her phone away and punched a hole in a closet door.

●  Shawna Hmielewski, 33, Beloit, was sentenced March 21 to three years in prison and three years on extended supervision after her probation was revoked on a 2015 felony forgery conviction for passing a forged check at Sugar River Bank in Brodhead. Court records indicate she broke conditions of her probation by shoplifting from a Walmart in Illinois, using alcohol, cocaine and heroin, failing to appear in court and posting an ad online to exchange sex for money. In September 2016, she was detained for failing to return as directed to a temporary living program house in Beloit. A month later, she overdosed on heroin. She then entered a drug court program but later absconded from it. Her probation agent wrote in a revocation document that Hmielewski’s time under supervision was marked by “repeated behavioral issues” such as a physical altercation with another inmate, frequent curfew violations, having men stay overnight and excessive absences from group programming. “She does not demonstrate a readiness to change and her community environment is not likely to support positive change. Her treatment needs would best be met in a confined setting,” the agent wrote.

●  John L. Carothers Muszynski, 27, Monroe, pleaded no contest March 22 to a Class I felony charge of possessing marijuana (second or greater offense) and a misdemeanor third-offense charge of operating with a prohibited blood-alcohol concentration (0.086%), stemming from a June 30 traffic stop in Monroe. Related traffic charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to 21 days in jail and two years on probation, with conditions that he seek treatment and counseling for alcohol or other drug abuse. He owes the court $1,653.

Misdemeanors

●  William Earl King, 37, Monroe, pleaded no contest Nov. 7 to misdemeanor charges of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to two years on probation, with conditions that he undergo mental health and alcohol or other drug abuse counseling. He owes the court $352. Court records indicate police found a pipe full of marijuana on King while checking on his welfare at a gas station in Brodhead on Jan. 21, 2018.

●  Thomas Charles Ekena, 49, Monroe, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and one year on probation after his deferred prosecution agreement was revoked Nov. 7 on a Class B misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, stemming from a 2016 domestic dispute in which Ekena was found to be intoxicated, yelling and throwing furniture around his residence.

●  Troy G. Pryce, 47, Monroe, pleaded no contest Nov. 12 to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, bail jumping and criminal damage to property. Related charges including eight misdemeanor counts of knowingly violating a restraining order and seven counts of misdemeanor bail jumping were dismissed as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to two years on probation, with an imposed and stayed nine months in jail and conditions that he complete anger management counseling and have no contact with the victim. In May 2018, a tearful 911 caller at his home reported Pryce was drunk, belligerent and she was frightened of him. Police reports also indicate he damaged a car window by striking it with a cordless drill. The caller had kicked him out of the house and locked the doors, but he came back in through a window. A breathalyzer test showed he had a 0.21% blood-alcohol concentration. Pryce subsequently attempted contact with the victim, in violation of a four-year restraining order.