Robbery suspect to get competency exam

A competency exam is ordered for an armed robbery suspect in La Crosse. 

Timothy Ellis is accused of robbing a man at gunpoint on a north La Crosse street last winter, and firing a bullet into the victim’s car. 

A county judge has granted a motion for an exam to determine if Ellis is mentally fit to be tried for the crime. 

The decision means that Ellis’s trial, which was scheduled for March 16th, is being postponed until it is determined whether Ellis is competent. 

Timothy’s brother Justin Ellis also is charged in the robbery.   

In another local theft case, two men from Texas are accused of stealing mail in the La Crosse area, and trying to alter checks that they have found. 

Stephen Hoffman and Kevin Mason are suspected of theft and forgery. 

Mason did not appear for a court hearing in La Crosse, and a warrant is issued for his arrest.

Hoffman did show, and he’s jailed on $10,000 cash bond. 

Police found stolen mail and ripped-up checks in a motel room used by Hoffman. 

The men are accused of changing the writing on some checks, in order to cash them in, sometimes for a higher amount than originally written on the check.