Darrell E. Brooks Jr., who’s accused of driving a maroon 2010 Ford Escape into the Christmas parade in Waukesha, has a protracted, violent prison historical past — and was freed simply six days in the past on $1,000 bail after being accused of attempting to run over his girlfriend with the identical S.U.V.
Mr. Brooks, 39, who’s from Milwaukee, has been charged with or convicted on an array of expenses over the previous 22 years, together with battery, home violence, cocaine possession and resisting arrest in a number of jurisdictions in Wisconsin.
He has served a minimum of two jail sentences and spent years on probation and in court-mandated work-release and anger administration packages, information confirmed.
On Nov. 2, Mr. Brooks was arrested in Milwaukee after the mom of his baby accused him of punching her within the face in a resort room, then following her in his S.U.V. into the parking zone of a fuel station, the place he hit her with the automobile, in response to the police.
“Officers noticed tire tracks on her left pants leg,” wrote one of many officers, in response to a prison criticism, accompanying a cost of recklessly endangering the lady, which carries a attainable sentence of 10 years in jail.
The girl was handled at a hospital for accidents that included facial cuts and bruises. The police noticed “swelling on her lip and dried blood on her face.”
Prosecutors agreed to launch Mr. Brooks on Nov. 11 for a small fraction of the $10,000 bail they initially requested. In an announcement on Monday, the Milwaukee district legal professional, John T. Chisholm, described the state’s bail advice as “inappropriately low” in gentle of the seriousness of the costs and “not constant” with workplace coverage.
“This workplace is at present conducting an inner overview of the choice to make the latest bail advice on this matter with the intention to decide the suitable subsequent steps,” the assertion stated.
Mr. Brooks’s lawyer within the November case, Joseph T. Domask, stated in a short phone interview that he couldn’t touch upon the case with out his consumer’s authorization.
The police haven’t stated why Mr. Brooks traveled to Waukesha. In February, a choose within the county issued a warrant for his arrest after he reneged on a month-to-month settlement to pay a lady within the space $151 in baby help and $50 in cash he owed her, in a case that appears thus far again a decade.
In nearly each certainly one of his brushes with the regulation, Mr. Brooks resisted arrest or tried to hinder officers, in response to the information.
That sample held true earlier this month: When the police tried to arrest him, he sprinted into his residence and “closed 4 doorways on officers” earlier than they restrained him, in response to the prison criticism.
He additionally has a protracted historical past of home abuse allegations and paternity warrants, that are usually issued for nonpayment of kid help.
Dan Thompson, chief of the Waukesha Police Division, informed reporters on Monday that Mr. Brooks had been concerned in a “home disturbance” instantly earlier than driving by means of the parade. He declined to launch another particulars or touch upon Mr. Brooks’s earlier instances, saying he didn’t need to compromise the present case.