MILWAUKEE — The man accused of driving down dozens of people during the Waukesha Christmas Parade last month, killing 6, is facing new charges for intimidating a woman he is accused of driving over before the parade incident.
Darrell Brooks, 39, had been charged for running a woman over with a vehicle in Milwaukee on Nov. 2, prosecutors say. He was out on a $1,000 bond for that incident when, three weeks later, he drove his SUV through the Waukesha parade on Nov. 21.
For the Nov. 2 incident, Brooks was charged with recklessly endangering safety and bail jumping, among other charges. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's office has come under criticism for issuing a low bond for Brooks in that incident.
This week Milwaukee County prosecutors updated their charges against Brooks for the Nov. 2 incident with felony intimidation of a victim and felony intimidation of a witness (by a person charged with a felony).
Brooks is also facing six counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County for the parade incident.
A new criminal complaint for the incident in Milwaukee County filed Monday states that on Nov. 2 Brooks got into an argument with his girlfriend, punched her in the face, and then drove away. As the woman walked to a nearby gas station, Brooks returned and struck the woman with the Ford Escape, running her over, the complaint states.
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The woman suffered a dislocated left femur and a fractured right ankle.
On Nov. 3, Brooks called his mother from jail to discuss that the Milwaukee DA's office would need cooperation from the woman he allegedly drove over in order to issue charges.
On Nov. 4, the complaint states Brooks called the girlfriend from jail. During the call, he used "emotional manipulation" in order to stop her from cooperating with the DA's office.
Two hours later he called the girlfriend again from jail to say that she had to keep her mouth shut so that he wouldn't do long prison time.
Brooks continued the "emotional manipulation" of the woman by telling her he would “die in prison” and to “think how bad that would make my momma feel. Think of how much pain that would be on her, this is all stuff you wasn’t thinking about when you opened your mouth," the complaint states.
On Nov. 6, after Brooks attended his initial appearance for the Nov. 2 incident, Brooks called her again in violation of his bond agreement, in which he was to have no contact with her, the complaint states. During the call they discussed law enforcement's request for her to consent to access her medical records in order to establish the injuries she suffered after she was run over, the complaint states.
Brooks called the woman a number of other times in the following days, as well as his mother.
On Nov. 30 the woman met with DA's office investigators and confirmed that Brooks had called her, told her he loved her, and made her feel guilty that he was in jail. She also told them Brooks made her feel afraid of him because he threatened her safety and security. She said Brooks knows people in Milwaukee who could threaten her safety.
Brooks is in Waukesha County Jail on $5 million bond for the Waukesha parade incident.
