Burglary charge dropped against Wittenberg village president

A felony burglary charge against Wittenberg Village President and Shawano County Supervisor William J. Switalla was dismissed Thursday and a misdemeanor count of theft will also be wiped off the books if Switalla abides by the conditions of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Switalla will have to perform 40 hours of community service over the next six months as part of that agreement.

After the hearing, Switalla said he already performs a lot of community service for the village and county, but will do additional work.

“I could use up half of those hours with what I normally do, but what I’d like to do is come to Shawano and work with the homeless shelter,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do that because I’ve looked at the numbers on the homeless shelter and it’s definitely a need.”

Switalla was accused of breaking into a garage and taking a grill from a property the county had acquired in tax foreclosure.

According to the criminal complaint, Switalla was among several county officials who went out to view the property at 715 Webb St. in Wittenberg on April 24 of last year to establish a sale price.

When the county treasurer’s office held an open house at the property for interested buyers, the staff noticed that the house and garage door were unlocked and items appeared to be missing from the garage.

Neighbors informed them that they had seen Switalla loading a grill from the garage into his van, according to the complaint.

Switalla later returned the grill to the property.

Switalla’s attorney, Paul Payant, had previously argued that there had been no felony committed; that Switalla removed the grill from the property along with garbage he offered to clean up for the county at the property the county had acquired.

Payant also questioned whether County Treasurer Deb Wallace, who signed the non-consent form stating Switalla had no authority to take the grill, was in a position to claim ownership of the property.

Michael Balskus, from the Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case, told the court that Switalla “exhibited bad judgment” in taking the grill, but he noted Switalla returned the property.

“There’s really no need for a criminal conviction,” he said.

Balskus was appointed after the Shawano County District Attorney’s Office, which originally charged the case, determined there could be a conflict of interest given that Switalla is a county official.

Payant told the court Switalla intended to dispose of the grill along with the other garbage he had cleaned up, but because of the grill’s weight he couldn’t throw it in the dumpster and took it home with him temporarily.

Payant said outside assessments of the grill had placed its value at $2 to $2.50.

Balskus said in an interview after the hearing he agreed with those assessments.

“The inside was pretty well rotten out,” he said.

According to the criminal complaint, Wallace had placed the grill’s value at $100.

Payant said after the hearing he didn’t believe charges would have been brought had there been better communication between the county and Switalla.

He said Switalla was in this situation because he was performing a service for the community.

“Never has he kept anything, but he’s cleaned garbage up,” Payant said. “I don’t think anybody would consider that a crime.”

Switalla said after the hearing that he didn’t know what motivated prosecution of the case.

“I have no idea why they did this,” he said.

Switalla’s sister, Deb Owens, who attended the hearing with other of Switalla’s friends and family said she felt the prosecution was wrong.

“It is sad. It’s just sad and wrong for his family and friends,” she said.