Man charged with homicide as a hate crime in fatal crash

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — A Fond du Lac man is charged with homicide as a hate crime because prosecutors say he intentionally crashed his pickup truck into a motorcyclist and killed the man because he was white.

Authorities say 27-year-old Daniel Navarro, who is Mexican American, told investigators he has been harassed by co-workers and neighbors, poisoned, drugged and verbally attacked because of his race by white people.

Fifty-five-year-old Phillip Thiessen was killed July 3 in the town of Taycheedah. Thiessen was a retired special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and a former police officer.

Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt says Navarro apparently didn’t know Thiessen but targeted him because he was white.

Navarro is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety, both as hate crimes.

Fond du Lac County Circuit Court Judge Robert Wirtz set bail at $1 million during an initial court appearance Thursday.