BURNETT COUNTY -- Felony charges have been filed against a Webster, WI man after law enforcement investigated a report of shots fired at Norman’s Landing in Burnett County.
On June 22, 2021, shortly before 8p, Burnett County Deputies were dispatched to a report of a disturbance at Norman’s Landing. The caller reported that Thomas Brown, of Webster, WI, had just caused the disturbance by firing a shotgun and then leaving the area in a white Chevrolet pickup.
Deputies who responded to Norman’s Landing spoke with two witnesses at the cabin. The witnesses stated that Brown had arrived at the cabin earlier that evening. According to the witnesses, Brown had been upset and intoxicated and he had discharged a firearm into the ground near a concrete frame where the two witnesses were working.
After Brown left, the witnesses at the cabin found that an excavator had apparently been used to push a side-by-side vehicle into one of the driveway accesses to the cabin. The side-by-side was then pinned down with the bucket of the excavator. The start-up code for the excavator had also been changed so that it could not be moved. The gate over the other driveway access had been locked and the key had been broken off in the lock, leaving the gate unable to be opened.
Brown allegedly knew both the startup code for the excavator and the location of the key for the gate.
Brown’s truck was located a short time later and he was taken into custody. When Deputies asked Brown what happened, he allegedly stated that he did not believe the information provided to him by one of the witnesses, and so he went to the cabin to find out what was going on. Brown said that he wanted to block access to the cabin so that the two people at the cabin would be discovered and a neighboring resident would then find out what was going on.
Brown allegedly admitted to using the excavator to push the side-by-side and block the driveway and also to changing the startup code for the excavator. He also allegedly told Deputies that he locked the gate over the other driveway and broke the key off in the gate. Brown allegedly also admitted to consuming alcohol prior to arriving at the cabin, and to shooting a firearm in the area where the witnesses were; however, he told Deputies that he didn’t aim the firearm at either of the two witnesses.
A short-barreled shotgun was located inside Brown’s truck, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
Brown is charged with two counts of Class G Felony Recklessly Endangering Safety; Class H Felony Possession of Short-Barreled Shotgun; Class H Felony False Imprisonment; Class A Misdemeanor Discharge Firearm Within 100 Yards of a Building; and Misdemeanor Possession of a Firearm While Intoxicated. Two non-criminal citations are also filed against Brown, charging him with Operate While Intoxicated 1st Offense; and Operate Without Valid License. In a separate case, Brown is charged with two counts of Class H Felony Bail Jumping; details of that case are not known to DrydenWire at the time of this post.
Online circuit court records show that at a hearing on June 23, 2021, the Court placed Brown on a $750 cash bond which was posted a few days later.
On July 14, 2021, Brown appeared in Burnett County Circuit Court regarding his charges and he is scheduled to appear again in August 2021.
Pursuant to the direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as found in Supreme Court Rule 20:3.6, Trial Publicly, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Last Update: Jul 15, 2021 3:31 pm CDT
