WAUSAU PILOT AND REVIEW
Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with a near-fatal beating of a Wausau boy, police said Monday.
The mother of the victim said the attack happened just after 10 p.m. Monday, July 1 on Chicago Avenue in Wausau. The boy was walking home from a nearby gas station with another teen when he was allegedly attacked by a group of people that pulled up next to them in a vehicle, she said.
Three of the four arrests were made Thursday, according to the Wausau Police Department. The arrests included a 17-year-old Weston resident, a 16-year-old Kronenwetter resident and a 15-year-old Weston resident. On Friday, July 12, a fourth suspect, a 15-year-old Rothschild resident, was also taken into custody.
The 17-year-old boy is considered an adult by law and has been identified by police as Michael P. Hrobsky. The names of the three other suspects are being withheld by police due to their status as juveniles. However, prosecutors are expected to waive the three remaining suspects into adult court, which would allow for the release of their names.
Hrobsky remains in custody at the Marathon County Jail and is set to make an appearance Monday at a probable cause hearing. The remaining three teens will appear at 3:30 p.m. Monday for a plea hearing, the juvenile equivalent to aninitial appearance.
A preliminary charge of physical abuse to a child/intentionally causing great bodily harm with use of a dangerous weapon, a class C felony, has been referred for each suspect to the Marathon County District Attorney. Formal charges, subject to change, are at the discretion of the Marathon County District Attorney.
The ultimate decision whether the juveniles will be waived into adult court will be at the discretion of a Marathon County Circuit Court judge.
Both cases remain under investigation.
The victim was critically injured in the attack and remains hospitalized.
Police are also continuing their search for a person of interest in connection with a drive-by shooting with an apparent connection to the beating. The shooting happened two days after the beating occurred.
The person of interest is 33-year-old Maurice Bell, who also goes by the nickname “JB.”Bell has ties to both Wausau and Chicago, IL, and is also wanted by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Anyone with knowledge of Bell’s whereabouts is asked not to approach Bell, but to contact the Wausau Police Department at 715-261-7811.
See the full release below.
Press Release_Wausau Police_Shooting_Updated_3
Press Release_Wausau Police_Shooting_Updated_3
