By Shereen Siewert
A criminal complaint filed last week in Marathon County Circuit Court outlines new details in a July 1 attack that left a 15-year-old boy critically injured.
Brendan W. Griffin, 15, was initially charged as a juvenile in the alleged attack but will now face adult charges of physical abuse of a child/intentionally causing great bodily harm by use of a dangerous weapon. During an initial appearance Oct. 10, Circuit Judge Jill Falstad ordered Griffin held on a $150,000 cash bond.
Griffin allegedly told police that the sound of the victim’s head being struck by the bat sounded like “hitting a dinger in a baseball game,” according to the police report.
Griffin is the second of four suspects in the attack to face adult charges in the case.
According to the criminal complaint:
- Police responded at 10:29 p.m. July 1 to the 600 block of Chicago Avenue after a resident reported he was watching a movie in his living room when he heard a loud “ting” of a baseball bat, then saw people getting out of a dark-colored sedan. The witness then saw the victim down on the ground being beaten by members of the group before they fled the area.
- While medics attended to the victim, investigators spoke with a second 15-year-old boy who said he and the victim were walking from a friend’s house when they saw a car parked on the north side of the street and heard someone from inside the car yell, “hey, what’s up?” As the teens approached the car and had a brief conversation with a person inside the car, three other teens came up around the car and hit both boys. One boy escaped, taking off running, but the other boy fell to the ground and continued being beaten.
- About 10 days later, investigators spoke with another witness who told police he had observed a SnapChat social media post on the day of the attack of four males wearing bandanas covering their faces and holding baseball bats. The witness identified all four people in the media post, including Griffin and 17-year-old Michael P. Hrobsky, who was charged July 19 in connection with the attack.
- A second witness told police he spoke with the four suspects on the day of the attack and he became aware that the boys were going somewhere to beat someone up. Later, he saw the teens again and heard them brag about “having beaten someone up.”
The mother of the victim tells Wausau Pilot and Review her son spent weeks in the intensive care unit but has since been released.
“It was and still is very emotionally draining for us,” the victim’s mother said. “It is taking us some time to get a routine and schedule for him. He did get to start school with everyone else. We are starting with two hours a day just because we weren’t sure how he was going to handle that kind of setting. We are still having challenges taking junior in public and riding in our vehicles. He did wake up from the coma a different boy.”
The victim’s mother’s name is being withheld to protect the identity of the victim in this case.
Griffin, during his initial appearance, waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A pretrial conference is set for Oct. 22.
