Forty-five-year-old Chad Kohel, of Marion, is facing six charges, including strangulation and third offense drunken driving, stemming from that traffic stop July 27. The deputy pulled Kohel over, conducted a field sobriety check, then took him to a Shawano hospital for a blood draw.
A criminal complaint says Kohel attacked the deputy as she was placing him in the back of a squad car at the hospital. The deputy was strangled until she was unconscious, according to court filings.
The injured deputy had visible wounds and bruises on her neck.
Kohel told investigators that the deputy had grabbed him in his groin area. He said he jumped up, but didn’t realize he had “taken her breath away” and said it was not intentional.
He said he didn’t realize his handcuffs were on her neck.
Investigators viewed the deputy’s body camera footage which shows Kohel strangling her as she put on his seat belt. There was no visible footage of the deputy touching Kohel’s groin area as he claimed, according to the criminal complaint.
Another deputy and state trooper arrived and arrested Kohel. His public defender, Jeffrey Haase, declined to comment on the case.
