Wausau man gets nine years in prison for December 2019 incident involving strangling woman, scuffle with officers and stolen car
WAUSAU – A 27-year-old man convicted of strangling a woman, stealing a car and breaking a bone in an officer's hand was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.
Manuel V. Hoffman, whose current address is listed as Waupun Correctional Institution, pleaded no contest March 1 to first-degree recklessly endangering safety, second-degree recklessly endangering safety and taking a vehicle without consent.
The first-degree recklessly endangering safety charge was reduced from a charge of attempted first-degree homicide, as part of a plea agreement.
On Friday, Marathon County Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson gave Hoffman credit for 118 days already served, ordered him to serve five years of extended supervision to follow his prison sentence, and ordered him to have no contact with his victims. A restitution hearing will be scheduled during a June 30 conference call.
At about 7 a.m. Dec. 17, 2019, a Marathon County deputy responded to a report of a vehicle in a ditch on State 29, near Marathon County E, where a woman said a man with a gun was trying to kill her, According to the criminal complaint.
After a second deputy arrived, both had their guns pointed at Hoffman in the driver's seat of the car, according to the complaint. Hoffman had what "appeared to be blood" on him and was holding a shoe in his hand. An officer told Hoffman to get out of the car, but he did not and began beeping the horn numerous times.
Officers thought Hoffman might be high and that he reached for a gun, according to the complaint. An officer took Hoffman from the car and tried to arrest him, but Hoffman resisted, causing one of the officers to use a stun gun, according to the complaint.
One of the officers broke a bone in his right hand after he punched Hoffman in the head while trying to arrest him, according to the complaint. The officer hit Hoffman behind his ear to "create dysfunction" while trying to handcuff him.
Officers found Hoffman in a stolen car, according to the complaint. The vehicle's owner said she was driving on State 29 when she saw a car in the ditch. A woman was lying in the snow nearby, and Hoffman was walking up an embankment. The passerby stopped to ask Hoffman if he needed help.
When Hoffman and the other woman both began running toward her, the passerby returned to her car and tried locking the doors, but Hoffman got into her back seat, according to the complaint. The passerby got out and ran back to the road to flag down another motorist to call 911.
A deputy later interviewed the woman who was with Hoffman. She said she was sleeping at a friend's house when she woke up to find Hoffman packing bags with her belongings and taking them to his car. Hoffman forced her into the car and began driving, according to the complaint.
The woman told deputies Hoffman strangled her, causing her to pass out, according to the complaint. When she came to, Hoffman was by the road, where investigators say he was stealing the passerby's vehicle. She said it was hard for her to eat and swallow after the incident, and an officer saw bruising on her lower jaw.
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau man gets 9 years prison for strangling woman, stealing vehicle
