Courts
Three suspects in drive-by harassment at La Crosse school will be scheduled for trial
Three young men are pleading not guilty to accusations of threatening children outside a La Crosse elementary school.
Nineteen-year-old Hunter N. Gundlach, Alex P. Pataska, 18 and Brady P. Hove, 19, appeared together before La Crosse County Judge Elliott Levine on Wednesday, for an evidence hearing.
The three were arrested shortly after a March 15 incident outside Blessed Sacrament School, when riders in a passing car shouted at kids who were outdoors for recess.
The three in the car allegedly made crude remarks and gestures, and yelled threats such as “You’re going to die.”
La Crosse police officer Andrew Jarrett testified during the hearing that third graders at the school said they were afraid after the incident.
Jarrett said the black Nissan SUV that drove past Blessed Sacrament was spotted speeding on 4th Street several minutes later, and the three suspects were arrested.
One defense attorney argued that somebody saying “you’re going to die” doesn’t rise to the level of a felony threat.
Judge Levine, however, said yelling to kids that they’re going to die is very serious, and can be taken as a threat to hurt them.
Levine found probable cause to try the three suspects for making terroristic threats.
