Belle Plaine man faces charges in domestic abuse

A man who recently moved to the Town of Belle Plaine is facing a myriad of charges stemming from a Sept. 14 domestic abuse incident.

Zachary Runion, 30, has been charged with two counts of strangulation and suffocation, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of felony intimidation of a victim and one count of false imprisonment.

A preliminary hearing on Sept. 27 was rescheduled to Nov. 4 as a public defender has not yet being appointed to Runion’s case. Runion agreed to waive the standard timelines while an attorney is found. According to online court records, at least 60 attorneys have been contacted to take the case.

Runion asked Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge Katherine Sloma if it would be possible to reduce the $100,000 cash bond he’d need to pay to find an attorney. Sloma said Runion would have to submit that motion in writing.

According to the criminal complaint, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department received a call from a woman at 2:27 a.m. Sept. 14 claiming that her nephew was attacking her husband, reporting that “everyone is bleeding, and someone is bleeding from the head.”

When deputies arrived, Runion was found on the deck of the house smoking a cigarette. He was placed into custody without incident, according to the complaint.

Deputies found Runion’s uncle in a bedroom unconscious with both eyes swollen shut, his nose broken and the side of his face fractured. The man’s airway was obstructed by blood and fluid, according to the complaint. Blood stains were found on the carpet, walls and hallway floor. Holes had been punched in the wall, and there were broken food bowls, picture frames and mirrors.

The uncle, once regaining consciousness, told a deputy that Runion allegedly attacked his wife first and then him, according to the complaint.

The aunt told deputies that she, her husband and Runion had recently moved into the home in Belle Plaine from De Pere a few days before the incident, with most items still waiting to be unpacked. She claimed that arguing started around 8 p.m. Sept. 13 over whose stuff was going where. She also claimed everyone was drinking alcohol but said she saw Runion mixing in some prescription medication and later told deputies some of her prescriptions were missing.

Things turned physical shortly after midnight when the aunt had gone to her bedroom to get some sleep. She said Runion allegedly came into her bedroom and began hitting her and pushing her around. Runion allegedly shoved her into a closet and would not allow her to leave before turning the power off via the breaker box. The woman’s cell phone was taken so she could not call for help, according to the complaint.

The aunt said Runion stopped his attack for a while, giving her time to shower and wash the blood off of her, but then Runion allegedly attacked her again. The uncle intervened, according to the complaint, and that’s when Runion allegedly attacked him, repeatedly punching him in the face, even after he lost consciousness, until law enforcement arrived. The aunt had been able to retrieve her phone and called the sheriff’s department after running outside.

One deputy reported in the criminal complaint that, while escorting Runion to a squad car, Runion allegedly told his aunt “I’ll see you in 10 years.” The deputy also reported that Runion claimed the cause of the assault “was kind of a build up.”

Both victims were transported to ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano. The woman was released later that day, while the man went to Green Bay and later Madison, where he had to undergo surgery for both of his eyes, with an emergency room official telling a deputy the man had a ruptured globe, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Runion faces a maximum of six years in prison for each of the strangulation counts and the false imprisonment charge, 15 years for each of the aggravated battery counts and 10 years for each of the intimidation counts.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com