Wittenberg family details home break-in

A Wittenberg family rose concerns about the Homme Youth and Family Programs facility, after two juveniles allegedly broke-in and used their home while the family was away earlier this month.

Dave and Dawn Eichman were victims of an alleged home break-in at their home on Hemlock Road in Wittenberg between Sept. 7 and Sept. 15, as the couple and their four children were out of the country for a wedding.

“The initial break-in was on Sept. 9 — we do have home security footage of them,” said Dave Eichman.

According to Shawano County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Ty Raddant, the sheriff’s department was notified of two runaways from Homme Home in Wittenberg right before midnight on Sept. 12.

“Staff said that they were out looking for the juveniles — one is 13 and one is 14,” said Raddant. “Deputies went out looking for them, could not locate them and did the paperwork to report them as run-aways.”

Dave Eichman said that the family was notified of erratic driving from their car after a call from his sister-in-law on Sept. 13.

“When the police were informed we were out of the country, they immediately went to our house, because the car was obviously stolen,” said Eichman. “At our house, the police found two juvenile males that had been staying at our house and using our car.”

Not only were the juveniles allegedly driving erratically, Raddant said that Wittenberg residents were notifying the sheriff’s department of juveniles going through unlocked vehicles and then driving away.

“She reported it as juveniles, so we kind of thought that these might be our runaways from Homme Home,” said Raddant. “As the deputies were heading to that location, they got a call from another place in Wittenberg, saying that they just saw someone go through more vehicles and they took off in a vehicle and gave us a plate.”

Raddant said that when the sheriff’s department ran the plate, it came back from the address in Wittenberg.

“It just so happens that the deputy knew the people — he called a relative of the family — because this did not add up,” said Raddant. “The person that he talked to said that the family was in Costa Rica.”

From there, Raddant reported that the deputy went to the Eichmans’ residence, where he met the relative and saw a door open to the house and music playing in the house.

“They walked around to the back of the house and found the suspect vehicle that they were looking for,” said Raddant. “As a couple of other deputies were responding, they noticed one guy take off running.”

From there, Raddant said that a deputy with a dog arrived and the person that ran into the field gave himself up and was arrested. He added that deputies could not initially locate the other person, but after a call from a neighbor was able to find and arrest the person in the nearby woods.

Raddant added that one of the juveniles was placed at Homme Home from Milwaukee County and one from Rock County.

Dawn Eichman said that it looked like the two were staying at the house, coming in and out at their own pleasure.

“It looks like they were staying here quite a bit, but I am assuming that they must have left and gone back to Homme at some point,” said Dawn Eichman. “They were here for eight hours at a time during the day. It was like they were living here — they were eating food, playing XBox and playing basketball.”

She also said that there was damage to a gun case.

“It seemed like they really wanted a gun in a locked gun case,” said Dawn Eichman. “They tried starting the chainsaw to open it and they tried a different electric saw from the kitchen.”

Dave Eichman said that the main concern of the break-in for the family was that the family has footage of the initial break-in on Sept. 9, but the runaways weren’t reported missing until Sept. 12.

“My wife and I feel that the community needs to know what happened and the lack of supervision that occurs at Homme Home,” said Dave Eichman.

“We feel like the community could be at risk with Homme Home not knowing where their kids are,” added Dawn Eichman.

Raddant said that the sheriff’s department has had trouble in the past regarding children from Homme Home.

“A lot of times they run away and the thing that it usually is, is a stolen vehicle, because they try to get back to wherever they are from,” said Raddant. “I have been here a while and we have had complaints of stolen vehicles or damaged property.”

He added that the juveniles were taken to secure detention centers in Portage County and Sheboygan County.

“From there, it is up to their home jurisdiction to take care of them,” said Raddant.

In a statement regarding the break-in, Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Inc. said that Homme Youth and Family program is a well-established Residential Care Center licensed under DCF 52, the Wisconsin code regulating residential facilities for children and youth. According to the statement, Homme Home’s goal involves helping male youth improve on behavior and learn to become a healthy part of society. When treating residents, Homme Home looks at addressing the cause of the issue that led to the behavior. The statement goes on to read that in alignment with DCF52, the protocol for when a resident cannot be found involves prompt communication with law enforcement.

In regards to this situation, the statement said that Homme Home cannot share specific details because the two who were involved are minors. LSS said that they are directing all media inquiries about the incident to local authorities.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com