Algoma man bound over for trial in Oconto shooting, other charges
OCONTO – An Algoma man accused of a shooting a man in a clash over drugs in Oconto on Sept. 3, was bound over for trial Tuesday on six felony charges.
Cody J. Krueger, 24, waived his preliminary hearing before Judge Michael T. Judge, who found that Krueger had probably committed a felony.
Oconto Police believe Krueger, armed with a small caliber pistol, was trying to intercept drugs he knew were being delivered to the victim. A 40-year-old Oconto man said he was in the driveway of his Superior Avenue residence when a man arrived on a bicycle about 11:30 a.m., pulled out a gun and shot him.
Krueger was not found until six days later, when Oconto County Sheriff Todd Skarban spotted a Cadillac that Krueger was believed to be driving in the town of Maple Valley about 4:15 p.m. Sept. 9.
Skarban followed the vehicle onto an ATV trail and back onto a road in the town of Bagley where a sheriff's investigator was approaching the pursuit. The Cadillac nearly struck the investigator as it "missed the driver side of his squad by mere inches as it continued," according to the criminal complaint.
The 2009 Cadillac CTS, which crashed seconds later about 7 miles northeast of Suring, had been reported stolen from the Waupaca area.
Skarban and the investigator pulled a man out the driver window but discovered it was a 23-year-old passenger and that Krueger had ran into the woods. Police, dogs and drones searched the heavily wooded area, but Krueger wasn't found until a deputy spotted him walking along a road about 7:15 the next morning.
Krueger, who was wet from the waist down and covered with mud and woodland debris, told a deputy he was sorry, claimed the shooting was in self-defense, and made comments about not wanting to go to prison for the rest of his life, the complaint said.
In the Sept. 3 shooting, Krueger was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide by use of a dangerous weapon, armed robbery and first-degree recklessly endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.
Concerning the Sept. 9 chase, Krueger was charged with two counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety – one for the car’s passenger and one for the deputy – attempting to flee or elude an officer, and operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license.
On all but the last charge, he was charged as a repeater offender, which increases the maximum sentence by four to six years in prison, depending on the charge.
Judge set an arraignment for Feb. 21.
The shooting victim has recovered after spending several days in the hospital, District Attorney Edward Burke said.
Krueger was also charged in a third case over an incident in the city of Oconto four days before the shooting, in which a man reported someone had held a large knife to his throat, then left after saying that everyone in the house would be dead by the end of the night.
He was charged with negligent handling of a weapon and disorderly conduct with use of a dangerous weapon, all as repeat offender, which increases the maximum sentence of each charge to two years in prison. Judge entered a not guilty plea to those charges on Krueger’s behalf.
Krueger is currently imprisoned at Dodge Correctional Institute in Waupun after his extended supervision and probation in two Portage County cases was revoked following the Oconto County incidents. He was sentenced to four years in prison and six years of extended supervision in December 2017 for armed robbery over an incident the previous February. He was also granted three years of probation in January 2021 after a judge stayed one year of prison and one year of extended supervision for battery by prisoners over an incident in December 2017.
He was released by the Department of Corrections to extended supervision in February 2021. He soon found himself back in trouble with the law as he was charged with resisting/obstructing an officer and operating while revoked over an incident from March 21 in Kewaunee County, and was charged in Brown County with possession of burglary tools, resisting/obstructing an officer and carrying a concealed knife over an incident April 9. He missed court appearances in both cases, and warrants had been issued for his arrest.
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Contact Kent Tempus at (920) 354-6075 or ktempus@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Algoma man bound over for trial in Oconto shooting, other charges
