Sussx man racks up many charges after shootout in Waukesha
An Oct. 23 shootout with police on Waukesha's east side ended with nine felony charges for a Sussex man. The incident came just two days after the nearby deadly shooting at the Azana Spa in Brookfield and only weeks after a similar standoff in the city.
Police responded to a residence at 1825 E. Racine Ave. shortly after 4 p.m. that day, where Richard A. Petarius, 76, wielded a sawed-off 12-guage shotgun and fired at an officer. According to the criminal complaint, Petarius was at the residence in a confrontation with his ex-wife, who had filed a domestic violence injunction against him that required him to have no contact with her.
The complaint stated that she saw Petarius get out of his vehicle carrying a gun and a bag.
The ex-couple, who had been married from 1957 until March of this year, had been at the courthouse earlier that day on a contempt order, because Petarius had allegedly not been paying alimony money to the woman. A court commissioner ruled that he owed his ex-wife maintenance money or he would face jail time.
He allegedly told her to go inside, but when she refused, he grabbed her by the arm and forced her inside the residence, pushing her to ground in the process. According to the complaint, Petarius grabbed the woman and told her that he was in charge now.
Once inside, he allegedly called the couple's children and informed one of them that he planned to commit suicide. A police officer rapped at the door a few moments later and the ex-wife went to open the door over the objection of Petarius. The woman said the officer yelled for her to get out of the residence and then appeared to be shielding her from fire after shots were exchanged.
Court records showed he had a domestic abuse injunction issued against him in 2012 in which he was barred from any contact with the victim or having any firearms. He allegedly obtained the shotgun from his son-in-law's residence without his knowledge.
Petarius faces charges of attempted first degree intentional homicide, two counts of first degree recklessly endangering safety, armed burglary, false imprisonment, intimidation of a victim, possession of a firearm contrary to injunction, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, attempted aggravated battery, and knowingly violating a domestic abuse injunction.
He now faces a combined maximum sentence of up to 165 years in prison.
E-mail Newsletter
Top stories from the Lake Country area. Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
Enter your e-mail address above and click "Sign Up Now!" to begin receiving your e-mail newsletter
Get the Newsletter!
MORE: See full gallery
SUBMIT: Post Your Photos now
Do you have news or a nonprofit event that you would like to share with the community? Whether it's a community organization, a business, a local school, or a notable neighbor, we'd love to hear about it.
- MainStage Dancers Perform at OAC May 26th
- FREE Organic Lawn Care Workshops This Saturday!
- Little Treasures Launches Summer Camp June 10-August 30th, 2013
- Hamilton announces April students of the month
- Learn to skate
- Christ the King Church Announces Vacation Bible School Schedule
- Birth to 3 Walk on June 1st Frame Park
- Waukesha County HeartChase is June 22
MORE: See the rest of Your Stories
SUBMIT: Post Your Story now
Lake Country residents share their views on news, happenings and current events.
LivingLakeCountry.com features more than a dozen community bloggers - a group of volunteer conversation leaders who are up on the latest topics and never short on an opinion. Just a few are pictured here. Check out the rest and see what they have to say!
View All Blogs
Discussion Guidelines
Do you want to become a Community Blogger? LivingLakeCountry.com welcomes your thoughts and opinions. Contact us for more information:
I want to blog
Information on Mukwonago Publications
Find metroparent locations
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.