Wausau man sentenced to 7 years in prison for firing gun during 2022 domestic dispute
WAUSAU − A 34-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday in Marathon County Circuit Court to seven years in prison for firing a gun at a Wausau woman in September 2022.
Pao Ge Vang, of Wausau, also was given five years extended supervision to follow his prison sentence for second-degree recklessly endangering safety. As part of a plea agreement, the charge was reduced from a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Vang also was found guilty of firearm possession by a convicted felon, drunken driving with a minor in the vehicle and having contact after a domestic abuse arrest. Marathon County Circuit Judge Gregory Strasser also revoked Vang's driver's license 12 months and ordered him to pay a $350 fine for the drunken driving conviction.
According to the criminal complaint, on Sept. 3, 2022, a Wausau woman had gone to Weston with Vang and a 3-year-old girl. Vang and the woman had some alcohol at the home they went to in Weston. Driving back to Wausau, Vang was going 85 or 86 mph and the woman told him to slow down because they had a child in the car, according to the complaint. When Vang got to Wausau, he drove through two red lights.
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Vang got back to the apartment he shared with the woman but he went into the garage instead of going inside. The woman took a shower but Vang kept calling her cellphone, according to the complaint. Vang was threatening the woman and calling her names during the call, according to the complaint.
Vang had gone to the apartment's patio doors, which were locked, instead of the open front door. The woman said Vang completely "flipped out" and she didn't know why. Vang told the woman she better get out of the apartment right away, according to the complaint. The woman was putting on her clothes when Vang shot at her, according to the complaint.
The woman ran from the house while she continued to pull on her clothes and called police when she got outside, according to the complaint. Vang made her leave the young child inside the apartment. The woman met an officer in the parking lot of a tavern in the 4700 block of Stewart Avenue.
The woman was crying and extremely frightened, according to the complaint. She repeatedly told the officer she was sorry and that she was afraid Vang would kill her.
Vang had left the apartment with the child. An officer saw Vang's vehicle, stopped it and called for additional officers. Vang got out of the vehicle, opened the door behind the driver's seat and the child got out, according to the complaint. He stood with his arms up until the child ran to a relative standing in a yard nearby, according to the complaint.
Vang yelled at officers to shoot him and failed to comply with their commands, according to the complaint. Police were able to get him to the ground and took him into custody.
Vang admitted to firing a shot at the woman, but he said he didn't know why he did it and he had had too much to drink.
As conditions of his extended supervision, Strasser ordered Vang to undergo alcohol assessment and any treatment deemed necessary. He also ordered Vang to maintain absolute sobriety.
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wausau man sentenced to 7 years for firing gun in 2022 domestic dispute
