January 3, 2022 at 12:56 p.m.

Wegner guilty of disorderly conduct, acquitted on battery charge

Global resolution of remaining cases to be explored
Wegner guilty of disorderly conduct,  acquitted on battery charge
Wegner guilty of disorderly conduct, acquitted on battery charge

A Lincoln County jury needed about 90 minutes Thursday to reach a verdict in the disorderly conduct and battery trial of former Oneida County assistant planning and zoning director Peter S. Wegner.

The jury decided that Wegner committed disorderly conduct in a Feb. 7, 2019 incident involving a Town of Russell snowplow driver, but found him not guilty of battery. The panel heard testimony from the snowplow driver, a passenger who was in the plow truck with him, Wegner's brother-in-law and the defendant himself.

In his opening statement, Lincoln County assistant district attorney Kurt Zengler said the incident stemmed from Wegner's mailbox being knocked over by the plow driver in the course of doing his job on Feb. 6. The two exchanged text messages, some containing profanities and unsubstantiated accusations. The last exchange occurred about 90 minutes before the Feb. 7 incident.

"He (Wegner) started out insulting, and (the driver) responded in kind," Zengler said of the exchange, which he described as like two middle school boys threatening each other.

At about 7 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2019 Wegner cut off the snow plow and got out, brandishing a baseball bat. Zengler said Wegner demanded the driver get out of the truck. At some point Wegner approached the driver's side of the vehicle.

"He (Wegner) was able to get the door open," Zengler said. "And he started yanking on him, trying to get him out of the truck. He actually struck him with the baseball bat."

The prosecutor told the jurors they would hear the recording of the driver's 9-1-1 call, where Wegner can be heard yelling at the other man to get out of the truck.

Wegner's attorney, Jim Koppelman, admitted that at points the series of text messages between the two men "was boorish" but expressed doubt the state would be able to prove that Wegner committed both disorderly conduct and battery.

"You have to decide whether or not that burden of proof has been met," Koppelman said. "Not anybody else in the room."

Zengler's first witness was Matt Brock, back-up plow driver for the Town of Russell. Brock was doing a ride along with the victim the evening of Feb. 7, 2019, and he told Zengler he knew Wegner "as an acquaintance."

"Was there any animosity or bad blood between you and Mr. Wegner?" Zengler asked.

"No," Brock replied.

Brock testified that he saw the SUV that Wegner was driving pass the plow truck on the right-hand side and then stop in front of it to make the driver stop. Once the plow stopped, Wegner got out of the SUV and started walking toward the plow.

"Was there anything that concerned you when you saw him get out of the SUV?" the prosecutor asked.

"Yes, he had a baseball bat with him," Brock replied. "He tapped the side of the plow truck a couple of times as he was coming toward the truck toward the passenger side."

Brock said Wegner was outside of the truck demanding that the driver get out. Under repeated questioning, Brock replied he was sure he heard Wegner yell he "wanted to kill" the plow driver.

He testified that the driver was trying to call 9-1-1 while also attempting to lock the driver side door. He testified that Wegner was able to get the door open briefly.

"He had (victim) by the arm a little bit, trying to pull him out of the truck there," Brock said.

Zengler asked if Brock could see if Wegner was doing anything with the bat while he had the victim by the arm.

"My view would have been obstructed," Brock replied.

He said that as Wegner pulled on the victim's arm, the driver had hooked his right arm through the steering wheel as an anchor while also holding his cellphone. Brock testified that the cellphone ended up on the dashboard at some point during the scuffle.

Brock testified that at some point, Wegner "got up on the truck" and could see the cellphone and hear the 9-1-1 operator.

"That's when everything kind of petered out after that," Brock said. "He got out and left."

During cross-examination, Brock admitted he did not fill out his witness statement until Feb. 10, three days after the incident.

Koppelman also questioned whether or not Brock actually saw Wegner with the victim's cellphone, and the witness replied in the affirmative.

"And during that time, he threw the phone on the dashboard and left it there?" Koppelman asked.

"Yes, at some point he threw it up there," Brock replied.

Koppelman asked Brock how tall the plow truck was, producing photos of the truck, along with a closeup of someone in the driver's seat for scale.

"Maybe six feet to the bottom of the window," Brock replied.

Under further cross-examination, Brock admitted he couldn't see if Wegner was standing on the ground or running board, but at some point he did enter the cab.

The plow driver was the next witness. He testified that he had been working for the Town of Russell for five years, driving plow in the winter and doing road grading and repair as needed in the warm months. He said prior to Feb. 6, 2019, he was unaware of any formal complaints to the town board.

"There's always complaints. Too much ice, too much snow, you used too much sand, not plowed soon enough," the man said. "It's part of the job, and you need a thick skin so it doesn't get to you."

He told the prosecutor that what was going on with Wegner was different, and after the increasingly threatening texts earlier on Feb. 7, he contacted the town board.

"This wasn't being a smart aleck, this was the real deal, this is a threat," the man said. "I disclosed all the information to my supervisors that we got a problem."

The driver said he was instructed if he had any further contact with Wegner, he was to call 9-1-1 immediately.

"Stay in the truck, don't engage Pete," the man said he was told. "Cut the crap with the cellphones. I received the message loud and clear."

The man said because of the road construction on Town Hall Road, the manhole cover casings were still above the road surface as the second coat of asphalt hadn't been applied. Because of this, he had to plow on the left side of the road and frequently swerved around the casings to prevent damaging them.

On top of that, the driver said "it was quite the week of snow" and he had been out plowing the day prior.

He testified that while plowing the left side of the road, he saw an SUV pull up alongside the plow on the passenger side before suddenly cutting him off.

"Is it easy to stop a plow truck?" Zengler asked.

"No, I got lucky," he replied. "I could have killed all of us if I hadn't got it stopped."

He said he realized Wegner was driving the vehicle and immediately called 9-1-1.

The driver said Wegner eventually was standing outside of the driver-side door yelling at him in a threatening manner, and the door was initially closed, though Wegner was trying to gain entry.

"Things were happening really fast. I knew he wanted the phone, I know he wanted in the truck," the driver said.

He said he put his right arm through the steering wheel with the phone in that hand. He testified that at some point, Wegner jabbed him a few times with the bat.

In his opening statement, Zengler said Wegner used the bat like a pool cue.

The driver testified that once Wegner heard the 9-1-1 operator, and realized someone else was also in the plow truck, he retreated to his vehicle and fled.

Later in the testimony, Zengler played the recording of the 9-1-1 call of the incident. Two men can be heard yelling at each other for 34 seconds before things calm down. From there, the driver talks calmly with the operator explaining what happened. At one point, he even laughed about the situation.

"Why laugh?" Zengler asked him after the recording stopped. "Was it funny to you?"

"I had never experienced anything like it," the driver replied, adding that he laughed with relief once it was over.

Under cross-examination by Koppelman, the man said he is unsure how his cellphone ended up on the dash. He said he buys "cheap" cellphones, and believed if the phone had been thrown on the dash, it would have broken.

He also agreed with Brock that Wegner hit the truck a couple of times with the bat, but the 9-1-1 recording did not capture that. He said the call did not connect immediately upon dialing, so the entire encounter was not recorded.

Koppelman asked the driver why after all of the harsh texts to Wegner prior to the incident did he text "goodnight Pumpkin" to Wegner 90 minutes before the incident.

"I was poking," the man replied. "Frankly, I'm not a very good smart aleck."

According to the testimony, Wegner's reply to the "pumpkin" text was "good night little buddy".

The last witness for the prosecution was Lincoln County Det. Sgt. Logan Lange, who responded to the 9-1-1 call.

Lange testified that after getting the driver's story, he examined the man's left arm. Noticing some redness, he photographed the limb. He also photographed two of the texts Wegner had sent the driver.

Lange said he and another deputy went to Wegner's residence, but nobody responded to repeated knocks on the door. Lange said he saw a woman who was later revealed to be Wegner's wife, but she wouldn't come to the door.

Under cross-examination, Lange said he had to write the driver's victim's statement for him due to his injured arm. He testified that he only wrote what the man told him and the driver signed it.

Neither side questioned Lange about noticing any signs the plow driver may have been intoxicated.

After Lange's testimony, the state rested.

The first defense witness called to testify was Anthony Luedtke, Wegner's brother-in-law, who was a passenger in Wegner's SUV on the evening Feb. 7. He testified that Wegner spotted the snow plow driving slowly and in the left lane, and pulled alongside it on the passenger side before cutting the plow off.

"It wasn't going fast, we weren't in any danger of getting hit by it," Luedtke told Koppelman.

He testified that as soon as the vehicles stopped, Wegner got out of his vehicle, taking the baseball bat with him.

"In hindsight, that probably wasn't a good idea," Luedtke said.

He said he didn't know for certain if Wegner actually got into the cab of the plow truck or made contact with the driver because he "had an obstructed view." He did testify that there was a great deal of yelling going on between the two men.

Under cross-examination by Zengler, Luedtke again insisted that from where he was in Wegner's vehicle, he couldn't see what was transpiring at the driver's side of the plow truck.

"Did the plow truck provoke Mr. Wegner in any way?" Zengler asked Luedtke. "Was he driving at him? Was he driving at Mr. Wegner?"

"No, we pulled in (front of him)," Luedtke replied, saying the plow driver was exhibiting "erratic driving."

Wegner was the last defense witness. He told the jury he has lived in the Gleason area for over 25 years, and until recently there had been no trouble with plowing his road. He told Koppelman that the Feb. 6 incident was the second or third time this particular driver had taken down his mailbox. Wegner also testified that earlier on Feb. 7, the plow driver swerved at his vehicle while operating the town grader.

He said later, while driving home from Gleason, he saw the same driver in the plow truck "driving erratically."

"I had never seen anyone plow the left-hand side before," Wegner said. "At that time, I thought he was intoxicated."

He said he decided to stop what he thought was a drunk driver in a large snowplow.

Wegner said while he did take a bat with him when he addressed the driver, he denied ever using it on the man or otherwise making contact with him. He also denied being on the running board or in the cab of the plow truck.

Zengler then asked Wegner if he had any training in stopping an intoxicated driver and he admitted he didn't.

"You tried to intervene with an intoxicated driver with a baseball bat instead of calling law enforcement?" Zengler asked.

Wegner replied that he thought it was more important to stop a drunk driver of a large truck then wait the "25-30 minutes" it would take deputies to reach the scene.

There was no evidence submitted during the trial to substantiate Wegner's allegation that the driver was intoxicated.

In his closing argument, Zengler pointed out that the 9-1-1 recording and the testimony of both Luedtke and Wegner proved that Wegner committed disorderly conduct.

The battery count, he admitted, hinged on the jury believing that Wegner made contact with the plow driver, either with the bat or with his hands.

He also said the jury should look at Brock and Lange as the two people with no vested interest in the situation and no incentive to give false testimony.

"You have to try to evaluate between the testimony of (victim) and the defendant who is telling the truth," Zengler said.

He also emphasized for the jury how long 34 seconds was by counting out that much time aloud. He also cited the "fresh trauma" on the driver's arm that Lange photographed.

Zengler also said that Wegner's defense that he thought the plow driver was intoxicated didn't hold water because he did not wait for law enforcement to arrive. Nor did Wegner contact the town board immediately with his suspicions.

"The reasonable scenario is that Mr. Wegner snapped," Zengler said. "He claims his mailbox was knocked down intentionally by (victim)."

Zengler also said that "unfounded accusations" the driver made about Wegner also had him "extremely agitated," further leading to him "snapping."

In his closing argument, Koppelman said Zengler had not proven the elements of either charge.

"Now, the testimony that you heard, varied," Koppelman said. "And that is where the government doesn't met its burden (of proof). I'm not here to reconcile, and neither are you. We're here to figure out if the government met its burden."

He said in the 34 seconds of the audio where the two men could be heard yelling at each other, no threats were recorded. Koppelman also said that Wegner's story has not changed over tine while the complaining witness's story has.

As to the disorderly conduct charge, Koppelman said that the two men made threatening and disturbing comments toward each other in texts, which went on for a couple of days.

"Fighting words are provocation," Koppelman told the jury.

After the jury returned the split verdict and was dismissed, Marathon County circuit judge Gregg Huber gave Zengler and Koppelman a chance to explore a possible global resolution to the four other pending cases against Wegner.

Those cases involve bail jumping, violating a restraining order and resisting law enforcement charges arising from repeated run-ins between the two men after the February 2019 incident.

Huber gave the two sides until Feb. 2 to come up with an agreement, otherwise he would proceed to sentencing on the disorderly conduct. Wegner faces a maximum of 90 days in jail for the disorderly conduct conviction.

Wegner worked for the Oneida County Planning and Zoning Department for 23 years before being fired in early December. That move came after he had been reinstated following a previous termination.

Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].

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