Mukwonago attempted homicide; man accused fired just before incident

WAUKESHA, Wis. - A 38-year-old North Prairie man is accused of running over a man with his car a short time after being fired from the business where he and the victim worked. The accused is Lenard Hale – and he faces the following criminal counts: 

• Attempt first-degree intentional homicide
• Hit-and-run great bodily harm

Hit-and-run crash

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, Mukwonago police were dispatched around 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, to the Greenridge Center. The initial report was for a man that had been struck by a white car that had fled the scene.

When officers got to the scene, they found a victim lying on the ground bleeding from the mouth, nose and back of the head. Emergency crews took the victim to Froedtert Hospital, where he was admitted into the surgical intensive care unit in critical condition. Medical staff indicated the victim had suffered a serious brain injury.

Captured by surveillance

Dig deeper:

The complaint says it was determined the victim was an employee of Aptar, which is across the street from there the victim was struck. Management at Aptar checked the surveillance cameras at the business and "found footage that captured the incident" which happened at Greenridge Center. A shift supervisor told police the footage was "difficult to watch, and (the victim) had been struck intentionally," the complaint says.

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A review of the video shows a white car driving slowly behind the victim, stalking him through the lot. The victim appeared to be walking back to Aptar. The complaint says the victim attempted to jump out of the way of the car after it rapidly accelerated. But the vehicle struck the victim, "who is thrown over the hood and roof of the vehicle," the complaint says. The video showed the victim landing on the pavement and is motionless.

One of the managers at Aptar told police he recognized the striking vehicle, and "identified it as being a vehicle owned by an employee who had been terminated within hours of the 911 calls that day," the complaint says. That employee was identified as the defendant, Lenard Hale.

A review of additional surveillance footage confirmed that the defendant was the operator of the white car that had left the Aptar parking lot and entered the lot at the Greenridge Center.

Tracking down the defendant

What we know:

Investigators checked the registration of the striking vehicle and located an address. When officers went to the residence, they located the white car that had been involved in the hit-and-run crash. The complaint says there were "numerous dents on the hood, and the windshield was cracked in the same way depicted in the surveillance."

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Officers made contact with the defendant inside the residence. The complaint says he was hiding behind a door. The defendant had the key fob for the white vehicle on him.

Court appearance

What's next:

Hale made his initial appearance in Waukesha County court on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Cash bond was set at $750,000. 

Hale is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 20.