Authorities allege a North Prairie man intentionally struck a coworker with his vehicle in Village of Mukwonago less than an hour after he was fired from his job.
Lenard L. Hale, 38, was charged Feb. 11 in Waukesha County Circuit Court with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and hit-and-run causing great bodily harm, two days after an incident in which a man sustained critical injuries after he was struck by a car in the parking lot of the Greenridge Center.
According to the criminal complaint, both men worked at Aptar, 711 Fox St., a plastic fabrication company where Hale had been fired from his job shortly before 4 p.m. Feb. 9. Hale was seen sitting in his vehicle about 40 minutes later, about the time the victim had walked from the business to the Dollar General store in neighboring shopping center during a break.
Mukwonago police officers said digital footage from Aptar’s surveillance cameras showed Hale’s vehicle, a white Audi, slowly driving behind and apparently stalking the man as he walked back to work through the Dollar General lot. Hale’s vehicle then suddenly accelerated and swerved toward the man, who tried to jump out of the way but was thrown over the car’s hood and roof.
Mukwonago police and rescue personnel found the victim lying on the ground, bleeding from the nose, mouth and back of his head, unable to speak and writhing in pain shortly after 4:45 p.m. An ambulance transported him to Froedtert Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition after surgery for a serious brain injury.
Hale’s manager told police that Hale was argumentative as he was informed of his termination, claiming he was being discriminated against. However, the complaint did not detail the work relationship between Hale and the victim and why he was allegedly targeted.
Through surveillance cameras, authorities were able to track Hale’s vehicle heading east through Muskego. He was later found hiding behind a door of his grandmother’s home in Milwaukee and arrested.
He is being held in the Waukesha County Jail on a $750,000 cash bond, pending a status conference in court on Feb. 19, when he will likely be assigned a public defender attorney. A preliminary hearing was also set for Feb. 20.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man charged with attempted homicide for striking coworker with car
Reporting by Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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