By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Each year, the world around us seems to change – sometimes in a heartbeat.
In 2015, news came from all over the area. It came in various forms – both good and bad, happy and sad.
And as 2015 winds to a close, Southern Lakes Newspapers brings you the top stories of the year for the Waterford and Union Grove areas.
No. 1 – Andrew Obregon leads area law enforcement on three-week manhunt
According to Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, Andrew Obregon was well known to law enforcement before Sept. 21.
However, on that day Tywon Anderson was reported missing in Kenosha, two days after he was last seen. On Sept. 26, his body was found in a cornfield along Highway A in Paris Township – and police began searching for Obregon as a “person of interest.”
Over the next three weeks, Obregon led law enforcement on several high-speed chases – including one that went through downtown Union Grove as school was close to dismissing on homecoming evening – robbed at least two businesses, stole numerous vehicles in an attempt to get away from police and sought aid from his mother that resulted in her being arrested and jailed.
On Oct. 13, police received a 911 call from a woman who said she had gone to check her father’s home and had been beaten by Obregon.
The police chased Obregon in the woman’s Chevy Spark into Illinois, where Lake County picked up the pursuit.
At about 4 p.m. that day, police announced over the radio, “In custody.” Moments later they added, “He’s in custody and it’s Andy Obregon.”
Since his capture, Obregon has been charged with 32 different counts in the state of Wisconsin, and more in Illinois. He allegedly confessed to all but the murder charge he is facing in the death of Tywon Anderson.
He remains in jail on a $5 million cash bond.
Other top news from 2015 from the Waterford and Union Grove areas:
Another manhunt ends in subject’s death
Union Grove found itself in the grips of another manhunt, this one in March as police tried to find an “armed and dangerous” Stantavious Sillas.
Citizen tips led investigators to a home near the 5300 block of Taylor Avenue in Mount Pleasant.
Arriving officers tracked fresh footwear impressions in the snow, which led them to Sillas at around 1:30 p.m.
He was hiding in some evergreen trees situated on private property adjacent to the roadway, said Mount Pleasant Police Chief Chief Tim Zarzecki. Two Racine city officers and one Mount Pleasant officer were on scene.
“They tried to order him out, but he decided to take his own life,” Zarzecki said.
Sillas reportedly threatened to shoot himself with a handgun he had in his possession when he saw the police arriving, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Officers attempted crisis intervention measures to prevent Sillas from harming himself, but their efforts failed.
The manhunt took place after a domestic violence situation, and Union Grove schools were closed as the manhunt took place.
Two die in murder/suicide situation at Muskego Tavern
What appeared to be a husband fighting against a separation from his wife resulted in the deaths of two people Oct. 30 at a Muskego bar.
Thomas Kruse, of Burlington, apparently confronted Jeremy Trawitzke – who was reportedly involved in some manner with his estranged wife – in the parking lot at DeMarinis Lake Denoon Saloon that day.
According to a press release from the City of Muskego Police Department, officers responded to the restaurant Friday at about 3:15 p.m. after two 911 callers reported shots fired and two people down in the parking lot.
When officers arrived, both Kruse and Jeremy Trawitzke – a bartender at the establishment – were dead. The department is calling the incident an “apparent murder/suicide.”
The victim, Trawitzke, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s office. Trawitzke was a Milwaukee resident.
Kruse was found nearby with a single gunshot wound to the head, and a gun was found near his body.
Town and Village of Waterford police departments join forces
Coming up on Dec. 31, officials in the Village and Town of Waterford were gearing up for a new era in law enforcement services.
The Waterford Village Board in early June decided to unwind a decades-long arrangement that called on a Racine County Sheriff’s deputy to patrol the village. Beginning Jan. 1, the Town of Waterford’s established police force will patrol the village.
Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald reported on the groundwork for the imminent changes at a Village Board meeting Dec. 14. Ewald has been instrumental in coordinating the transition, alongside two of the village’s seven board members – Jerry Filut and Tamara Pollnow.
The town’s police chief, Tom Ditscheit, also has been coordinating the effort from that municipality’s end.
The size of the town’s police force has grown to accommodate the changes. Five new officers – four full-time and one part-time – have joined the department. Among them is Kayla Demarasse, who was disciplined in the spring after discharging her weapon into a pond after allegedly getting drunk at a banquet.
Demarasse’s case drew attention this spring, but Ditscheit said recently that she had successfully completed counseling and had been hired as a full-time officer.
Others who received promotions or were hired include: John Nelson, Bill Chesen, Jeremy Halliday, Anthony Floreani, Adam Nelson, Bill Burinda, Sergeant Matt Johnson and Mark Sorensen.
Union Grove sets up new TID 5 to address downtown redevelopment
The planned creation of a new tax incremental finance district in Union Grove passed both the joint review board and the community development authority in early December.
The creation of the TID, No. 5 in the village, now moves forward.
“Now we hope for a developer,” said Village of Union Grove Clerk and Treasurer Jill Kopp in an email Tuesday.
The village currently has two active TIDs – TID No. 3, which is at the western end of town and includes large-scale manufacturing, and TID No. 4, entailing much of the downtown. TIDs No. 1 and 2 have been “successfully” closed, according to Village President Michael Aimone.
In October, the village’s CDA to spend more than $5,000 in early acquisition costs for TID No. 5. Those costs can include, but are not limited to, obtaining surveys and engaging consultants such as engineering and legal counsel.
The property is a former mill that has been torn down, and the village hopes to see that area developed into market-rate senior housing.
The board also approved sharing money raised in TID No. 4 – the downtown business TID – to help fund TID No. 5. The TID 4 project was originally supposed to house a high-end residential neighborhood development, but that plan fell by the wayside in the recession that hit in 2008, according to Kopp.
Bomb threats shut down local schools
After a handful of threats occurred at a handful of locations in southeast Wisconsin in October, area schools also ended up being the target of what appeared to be students making threats – possibly to get out of classes.
Shortly after the bell had rung at Yorkville to start the day Oct. 6, a teacher brought in a note to him that was found in a bathroom that mentioned both a gun and a bomb.
The school was evacuated and students eventually sent to Union Grove Elementary School. By the end of the school day, the Racine County Sheriff’s Department announced it had a 14-year-old in custody.
No weapons or bombs were found, but the threat – along with ones that followed in the Waterford Grade School District – happened to coincide with the manhunt for Obregon.
Yorkville District Administrator Dave Alexander expressed frustration at what appeared to be a prank, and pleaded that parents talk to their children.
“This is not a good way to try and get a day off,” Alexander said. “When the sheriff’s department shared with me all the resources they had to dedicate to this site, when there is a homicide suspect on the loose … and it was a prank.”
Man drowns on Wind Lake
The body of a 77-year-old Wind Lake man was recovered from the lake at about 9:45 a.m. July 30.
According to a press release from the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, Gerald Felician was boating with his wife Wednesday evening when he entered the water off his boat and did not resurface.
His wife tried to alert other boaters to the problem, and eventually Racine County Sheriff’s Office personnel, as well as fire personnel from Wind Lake, were sent to the scene at about 5:15 p.m.
The search and rescue effort turned to search and recovery early Thursday morning.
Racine County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Steven Sikora would not release any specific information as the incident is still under investigation. He did say most west-end fire agencies assisted the search and rescue – and recovery – efforts “in some way.”
According to an online obituary at Legacy.com and published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Felician is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, two daughters and several siblings. He was also an active senior softball player.
Domestic violence death underscores need for newly opened shelter
After fighting through the fall of 2014 – and failing – to open a western Racine County shelter/service site in Burlington, Women’s Resource Center submitted a new plan for the former Dover School.
That site was eventually approved, and opened in October. The opening was marked with a visit by Gov. Scott Walker, who toured the facility as part of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The new facility was expected to being offering services by the end of October, but the shelter portion of the former school was still a few months away.
The need for the facility was underscored in March when Burlington resident Francisca Quintero-Montoya was killed in an Illinois hospital by her husband.
Her husband, Javier Bahena-Arellano, a McHenry, Ill., resident, was immediately taken into custody. The Cook County States Attorney’s office charged him with one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony murder.
According to reports, Bahena-Arellano believed his wife – from whom he was separated – was having an affair. He cornered her in a bathroom at the hospital and allegedly stabbed her multiple times with a screwdriver.
Town of Waterford cop cited for drunk and disorderly
Kayla Demarasse found herself the subject of a great deal of attention in the spring allegedly getting drunk, arguing with her husband and then firing a gun into a pond outside her Town of LaGrange home March 15 – hours after attending a Friends of the NRA (National Rifle Association) banquet.
As mentioned above, Demarasse was eventually hired on as a full-time officer and completely counseling, but she continued to be the subject of online commentary by those opposing the new contract for police services in Waterford.
Also, according to the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access site, Demarasse and her husband had filed for divorce.
Balloonfest has accident due to storm
After a beautiful start to the fifth annual Balloonfest in Waterford in late July, the event – along with the weather – went south.
A storm cell moving through the area created a dangerous situation when one of the hot air balloons was swept into spectators and tents at about 7:15 a.m. and the grounds were later cleared for the day prior to a line of severe thunderstorms moving through.
There were conflicting reports of injuries following the early-morning incident.
Video posted on Youtube showed the red-and-white-checkered balloon getting caught up in a wind gust. The balloon appeared to travel a good distance, dragging the two vehicles it was tethered to along with it.
According to a witness, the one vehicle broke free before being dragged any distance, but the other followed the balloon all the way into the vendors’ tent area. The two vehicles were reportedly an SUV and a one-ton pickup truck.
The press release, quoting event director Ken Walter, said that Walter and balloon pilot Scott McClinton “suspected weather conditions were about to change,” and the two called off a planned static display.
According to a volunteer on site, the balloons were being deflated when the incident took place.
Numerous deaths in the area due to crashes
Jarett Heck, 20, of Salem, and Zachary Faulhaber, 22, of Kansasville, were pronounced dead at the scene of a fatal crash early on Dec. 15, according to a news release issued by the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle left the highway in the 1900 block of South Beaumont Avenue, struck a culvert, went airborne then struck a tree and a utility pole.
The car was demolished, according to Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, “a complete loss.” The crash occurred at about 5 a.m., and Schmaling confirmed that both men likely died instantly. Neither occupant appeared to be wearing a seatbelt, he added.
There were other deaths in car crashes throughout the year, but another death happened off the roads. Timothy Jorgenson, a fourth grader at Cooper Elementary School in Burlington, died April 2 – three days after an ATV crash near his home in Kansasville.
According to a press release from the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, Jorgenson was wearing a helmet while riding the ATV on private property.
Editor Emeritus Patricia Bogumil and Correspondent Dave Fidlin contributed to this story.
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