By Patricia Bogumil
Staff Writer
Timothy Fields, 19, Burlington, faces felony charges of first-degree reckless injury and physical abuse of a child for allegedly dragging his ex-girlfriend about 50 feet while driving down Buena Park Road in Waterford.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Racine County Circuit Court:
The victim, age 16, of Waterford, was interviewed Jan. 11 by county investigators while strapped to a backboard in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital of Burlington.
She said that she had called Fields, her ex-boyfriend, to come over to her house in Waterford.
She said Fields had driven over and picked her up at the end of her driveway and she went for a ride with him and other passengers in the vehicle.
When they returned, she said she was dropped off at the end of the driveway.
The girl said that when she got out of the car, two suspects in the car asked her to lean back by the window and when she did, her right arm was grabbed and held by two guys in the car.
She said that Fields, the driver, then slammed on the gas and she was dragged down the road, with the people in the car laughing hysterically.
She said that when her arm was released, she fell from the car, rolled on the ground and hit her head, losing consciousness for a short period.
Police observed numerous big scrapes over both sides of her body as well as a bump on the left side of her head about the size of a golf ball.
Fields reportedly told investigators a different story.
He said that he and some others went to the girl’s home. She walked to the car and pulled out a large bag of marijuana, which she handed to one of his passengers.
She then displayed a second, larger bag of marijuana and while the marijuana was in the car, he pulled away and the girl tried to jump through the window. He said his passenger pushed the girl out the window while he was driving about 35 mph.
Fields said he was freaking out and his adrenaline was running and he kept on going. He admitted that he did not stop.
A passenger in the vehicle reportedly told investigators another story.
He said they drove to the girl’s home to buy marijuana. She came outside and placed a large bag of marijuana in the lap of the front seat passenger.
He said that the girl had said the cost of the marijuana was $400. He said that at some point the front seat passenger told Fields to drive off, which Fields did, dragging along the girl.
He said that when Fields stepped on the accelerator, the girl tried to jump into the vehicle to try and retrieve the marijuana because no one had paid her.
He said that the girl and the front seat passenger struggled for a short time, before the bag came apart.
He said the passenger then tried to push the girl out the window, where she eventually fell back out onto the pavement while the vehicle was moving.
If convicted of both charges, Fields faces fines of $125,000, 37-1/2 years in prison, or both.
He made his initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court Jan. 12, with cash bond set at $25,000.
Fields was in court Wednesday, after press time, for a preliminary hearing, to determine whether or not the case should advance to trial.
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