"Will they do it again? They did it before:" Man harassed by UW-Parkside cross country team
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- An afternoon run turns into a wild confrontation. A driver of a vehicle was on his way home from radiation treatments at the hospital, when an unlikely group blocked the road September 5th.
Professional truck driver, Randy Dieter knows a thing or two about the rules of the road. What happened on September 5th, still has him shaken.
Dieter and his wife were driving along County Road A in Somers in their family car -- it's a single lane road in both directions.
"We come around the corner and there were 15-20 joggers in the middle of the road," said Dieter.
The runners were part of the UW-Parkside men's cross country team.
"I couldn't move over and they wouldn't move over. I almost stopped. As I went by, they started pounding and beating on my car like you wouldn't believe. The whole car was shaking back and forth," Dieter said.
Dieter pulled over and got out, he says the harassment intensified.
"One guy put his arms in the air and stepped toward me like he was going to start swinging at me," Dieter said.
Afraid and bewildered, he left.
"I guess the biggest thing is - this kid standing in the middle of the road, urinating in front of my wife. C'mon." said Dieter.
Dieter says he filed a police report with UW-Parkside PD and the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department. His wife also called the university to complain.
They received a letter in the mail a few days later from the department of athletics, signed by all the members of the team apologizing for their actions. The department also acknowledged the students were "reckless" and running "where they are not usually supposed to be."
"To me, it's a generic letter of apology, it's meaningless," Dieter said.
Even though there was no damage to his car, he says he's considering legal action.
"Will they do it again? They did it before," said Dieter.
A spokesperson for UW-Parkside acknowledged the letter that was sent to the victims. He says the cross country team met with Parkside Police after the incident to discuss the rules of the road.