BRODHEAD - More details of an armed robbery at a bar in Brodhead emerged from a criminal complaint filed this week in Green County Circuit Court.
Richard William Parot, 55, is charged with felony counts of armed robbery, intimidation of a victim and false imprisonment, and misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a handgun where alcohol is sold and consumed, operating a firearm while intoxicated and intentionally pointing a firearm at a person.
According to court records:
Parot started drinking beer at M&J's Bar, 1117 West 2nd Ave., late on the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 16. He had a camera with him and chatted with and took photos of the bar's employees. Later that night, around 2 a.m., he asked to use the bathroom as the bartender was closing up.
When Parot came out of the bathroom, he was holding a loaded F.I.E. Buffalo Scout .22 caliber revolver and ordered the bartender to give him money from the safe and register, and then stay in the bar's walk-in cooler until Parot had left.
The bartender waited a few minutes in the cooler and then went to the police station across the street to report the robbery. He told officers Parot had instructed him to "tell the police he was robbed by a black or a Mexican." Parot also reportedly threatened the bartender that he knew where he lived and would come back to kill him if he told what happened.
Investigators later located the revolver and a box of .22 rounds in a woodpile behind Parot's home on Taylor Trail in southwest Brodhead by following footprints in the snow. An officer also found a plastic baggie of money under a nearby hay bale and bank bags in a low marshy area of the Sugar River behind a neighboring residence. The bank bags contained checks to M&J's Bar, dated Jan. 16 .
In all, police seized $1,725 in cash. A digital camera with photos taken at M&J's was also seized.
Brodhead schools were put on security lockdown as a safety precaution on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 17, while officers executed the "high-risk" search warrant on Parot's home.
Parot was arrested that morning without incident and remains jailed on a $10,000 cash bond. His preliminary hearing is at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28.
Investigators' preliminary interviews suggest Parot is unemployed and was having money problems. He moved to Brodhead from Indiana in December 2011.
The penalty for the most serious charge against Parot, the Class C felony of armed robbery, is imprisonment of up to 40 years and a fine of up to $100,000.
Parot's penalty could be stiffer due to his prior record in Indiana. Court records in Indiana show Parot was convicted in the 1990s of intoxicated driving, public intoxication, resisting arrest and battery of a police officer.
Richard William Parot, 55, is charged with felony counts of armed robbery, intimidation of a victim and false imprisonment, and misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a handgun where alcohol is sold and consumed, operating a firearm while intoxicated and intentionally pointing a firearm at a person.
According to court records:
Parot started drinking beer at M&J's Bar, 1117 West 2nd Ave., late on the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 16. He had a camera with him and chatted with and took photos of the bar's employees. Later that night, around 2 a.m., he asked to use the bathroom as the bartender was closing up.
When Parot came out of the bathroom, he was holding a loaded F.I.E. Buffalo Scout .22 caliber revolver and ordered the bartender to give him money from the safe and register, and then stay in the bar's walk-in cooler until Parot had left.
The bartender waited a few minutes in the cooler and then went to the police station across the street to report the robbery. He told officers Parot had instructed him to "tell the police he was robbed by a black or a Mexican." Parot also reportedly threatened the bartender that he knew where he lived and would come back to kill him if he told what happened.
Investigators later located the revolver and a box of .22 rounds in a woodpile behind Parot's home on Taylor Trail in southwest Brodhead by following footprints in the snow. An officer also found a plastic baggie of money under a nearby hay bale and bank bags in a low marshy area of the Sugar River behind a neighboring residence. The bank bags contained checks to M&J's Bar, dated Jan. 16 .
In all, police seized $1,725 in cash. A digital camera with photos taken at M&J's was also seized.
Brodhead schools were put on security lockdown as a safety precaution on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 17, while officers executed the "high-risk" search warrant on Parot's home.
Parot was arrested that morning without incident and remains jailed on a $10,000 cash bond. His preliminary hearing is at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28.
Investigators' preliminary interviews suggest Parot is unemployed and was having money problems. He moved to Brodhead from Indiana in December 2011.
The penalty for the most serious charge against Parot, the Class C felony of armed robbery, is imprisonment of up to 40 years and a fine of up to $100,000.
Parot's penalty could be stiffer due to his prior record in Indiana. Court records in Indiana show Parot was convicted in the 1990s of intoxicated driving, public intoxication, resisting arrest and battery of a police officer.