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https://vernonreporter.com/la-farge-man-with-history-of-altercations-with-law-enforcement-arrested-for-harassing-sheriffs-office/
A LaFarge man with history of altercations with law enforcement arrested for harassing Sheriff’s Office
4 months ago2 comments5,092 views6 min read
LOCAL NEWS
La Farge man with history of altercations with law enforcement arrested for harassing Sheriff’s Office
4 months ago2 comments5,092 views6 min read
Dec. 21, 2024
Jacob Sell – Vernon County Sheriff’s Office photo
VIROQUA, Wis. – The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 51-year-old Jacob Sell after several days of what the Sheriff’s Office calls a “barrage” of harassing, intimidating, and profane telephone calls to the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center. The Sheriff’s Office goes on to say the frequent calls over the course of several days culminated Thursday morning when Sell came to the Sheriff’s Office disrupting communications and operations while staff were busy serving the community during a winter storm. Sell was taken into custody Thursday morning, December 19, at approximately 6:30 a.m., at the Sheriff’s Office.
Sell has a history of altercations with law enforcement including previous incidents at the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office and with the La Farge Police. In September, Sell defended himself in a two day trial on several charges that stemmed from the La Farge Police trying to enforce an ordinance in the village regarding unregistered vehicles on city streets. Village Police ticketed an RV owned by Sell and parked on a city street. Sell tried to stop police officers from taking the vehicle to the county impound and later had an altercation with officers at the Village offices.
Additional charges were filed when Sell went to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office to retrieve personal belongings that were in the impounded vehicle. Sheriff’s Office personnel, including dispatchers, testified that Sell was making disturbance in the public lobby at the Sheriff’s Office and making it difficult for dispatchers to do their job.
Sell was also charged with criminal damage to property for damage to his cell after he was taken into custody for plugging drains and flooding the area as well tampering with other parts of the cell including destroying a mattress. Sell made claims in court that he was mistreated by the Sheriff’s Office while in custody including being placed in solitary confinement for “72 hours”, deprived of water, and being restrained in a “Hannibal Lecter chair” for 3.5 hrs.
Sell also faced a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia for items found in his RV but those charges were later dropped when Sell argued the items could have other uses.
Sell also faced a bail jumping charge when police said they spotted him in a location in the village he was not allowed to be while on probation.
From all those incidents Sell went to trial on:
Bail jumping – found not guilty by jury
Possession of drug paraphernalia – dismissed by prosecutor
Possession of THC – found not guilty by jury
Disorderly conduct – found not guilty by jury
Two counts of criminal damage to property – found guilty by jury
At trial Sell argued his own case and convinced the jury to find him not guilty on three of the charges and was able to convince the court to dismiss the possession of drug paraphernalia charge. Sell successfully convinced the jury the disturbance in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office was protected under his right to free speech and did not impede the work of the office. On the disorderly conduct charge related to the altercation with officers when they were impounding the vehicle Sell argued the village had not communicated the RV was a problem other than placing the ticket on the windshield, and he was within his rights to try to prevent the removal. Sell was also able to convince the jury that their was not clear evidence of possession of THC in the amounts required to be charged.
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