Courts

Dutch resident sent to prison for Onalaska stalking

Published

5 years ago

April 14, 2020

A man from the Netherlands pleads guilty to an attempted stalking charge in La Crosse County, and is ordered to spend five years in prison.

Gerwin Ferwerda reached a plea agreement Tuesday before Judge Ramona Gonzalez.

Ferwerda has been in the La Crosse jail since last July, longer than any other current prisoner, and he’ll be given credit for that time served.

After his prison sentence is complete, Ferwerda has been ordered to return to his home country.

Police say the 23-year-old Ferwerda went to the house of an Onalaska woman he had met on line.

She had broken up with him, and he allegedly threatened her with a baseball bat and a knife.

Officers said Ferwerda used the bat to smash a car window, while the woman was sitting inside the car.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.