Harshaw man bound over in terrorist threat case

A 61-year-old Harshaw man charged with making terrorist threats was bound over for further proceedings following a preliminary hearing in Oneida County Circuit Court Nov. 17. After hearing testimony from sheriff’s deputy Mitch Ellis, Vilas County circuit judge Daniel Overbey ruled the state had established probable cause that Terry Lenard Tress committed a felony.

On June 1, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint charging Tress with three felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with a reported incident at a bar on the Willow Flowage. 

The charges include one count of making terrorist threats, one count of possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and one count of selling, possessing or delivering a firearm silencer — all felonies. He is also charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. 

According to information included in a 12-page report authored by deputy Ellis, the charges involve an incident at the Willow Haven Bar and Grill in early May. 

According to the report, Tress entered the bar “which was full of patrons,” placed a $20 bill on the bar and asked for a beer. 

The bar’s owner told deputies the bartender didn’t take Tress’s money “as the bartender was dealing with other patrons.”

Tress was then said to have started swearing at the bartender about why a beer cost $20.

The bar’s owner told authorities the bartender reported that Tress was irate and stated he was going to chop off the bartender’s head, then threatened other patrons in the bar, stating that he had a machete and he would “stack them up.” 

“It was reported that numerous other comments were supposedly made to other patrons in the bar,” Ellis’s report states. 

According to the report, Tress was escorted out of the bar by the bartender. 

“It was reported that when Tress was outside the bar, it was believed he had knives around his ankles and was taping them to his ankles and/or lower legs,” Ellis’s report states. 

The bar owner was asked to contact the Oneida County sheriff’s office if she saw Tress again. 

In his report, Ellis said a “confidential party” later told authorities they felt Tress was a danger to himself and to others “and Tress was very anti-law enforcement.”

 The confidential party stated that Tress had said if he was contacted by law enforcement, “he would not be going with them voluntarily.”

Ellis asked the confidential party if they knew about any long guns or any other weapons. 

“The confidential party stated there were a lot of weapons but the only thing they knew for sure was that Tress always traveled with a pistol and most likely two pistols,” Ellis wrote in the report. “The confidential party warned law enforcement again to be safe, due to Tress's comments that he would not go willingly with law enforcement, and it would most likely end in a violent confrontation once law enforcement contact was made.”

 Following an investigation of Tress’s Willow Flowage campsite by Oneida County deputies and wardens with the Department of Natural Resources, he was ultimately apprehended on May 13. 

Subsequent searches of his boat and car yielded weapons and THC in his car, according to the report.

During his cross-examination of Ellis, defense attorney Brian Bennett was able to establish that Tress was some distance away from the vehicle where the weapons were found. The officer also admitted that the alleged short-barreled shotgun did not appear to be operational. 

Bennett conceded that state law dictates that a short-barreled shotgun does not have to be operational to be illegal but argued the materials found by the police were “a collection of bits and pieces” located in Tress’s automobile a mile-and-a-half away from campsite.

“The truth of the matter is that he was nowhere near these firearms, we don’t know if silencer works as such and we don’t know if the short-barreled shotgun was in fact a short-barreled shotgun or just parts waiting to be put into use,” he argued.

If convicted of all charges, Tress faces up to 15 1/2 years in prison.