Darrell Brooks Faces up to 1,316 Year Prison Sentence for his Nearly 80 Criminal Counts

Darrell Brooks, the alleged perpetrator of the car attacks during the Waukesha Christmas parade, has been charged with nearly 80 criminal counts during his preliminary hearings at the Waukesha County Courthouse hearing. 

Nearly 70 counts were added during this preliminary hearing, most of which are for injuries of the victims who survived the attack. The original six charges were only for the victims who died.

Waukesha Police Detective Thomas Casey was the only witness called to the stand during the preliminary hearings. Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper and Defense Attorney Anna Kees both questioned Detective Casey. 

During the preliminary hearing, which took just over an hour, Brooks was charged with 67 counts of reckless endangerment with a dangerous weapon. Each of the 67 counts can be sentenced with up to 17 years in prison. He was also charged with six counts of hit and run resulting in death, one for each victim who died from the attacks, with a maximum of 25 years in prison for each count. 

Charges 74 and 75 are for felony bail jumping with a sentence up to six years per count. His final two charges were misdemeanor battery domestic abuse, which can result in up to nine months of imprisonment. 

“Initially I heard a horn beeping from the area north of my location and that was what my initial focus was drawn to,” said Casey of Brooks’ red Ford Escape. “I stepped in front of the SUV, put my hands up and yelled for the vehicle to stop. The vehicle continued driving into me. I was pounding on the hood yelling for it to stop, and it did not.”

Casey positively identified defendant Brooks as the driver of the SUV. 

Previous to entering the parade grounds, Brooks was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute at a nearby Frame Park. According to Casey, a report was shared about a knife being involved in the dispute. Though he heard the announcement on the radio, Detective Casey stayed put to finish his assignment of traffic control. 

“Between Barstow and Broadway the vehicle started zig-zagging through the crowd hitting people, running them over,” said Casey. “It appears the vehicle was intentionally aiming at people. At one point in the video you can see the vehicle running over people.”

Four of the six victims who were killed were involved in a group called the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. According to Detective Casey, they died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries. The other two victims who died was a man in his 80s as well as an 8-year-old boy who died from injuries in the hospital the day after the attack. Dozens more have been critically injured, including parade participants from ReMax, the Blazers Baseball team, Extreme Dance Team,

Citizens Bank and the Catholic Community of Waukesha.

According to Casey, the attack began well after the Christmas parade started, and some of the participants had already completed the entire route. Multiple Waukesha police officers attempted to stop the vehicle after Casey broadcasted a plea for help through the internal radio system.

“One of our officers saw the vehicle coming right at him,” said Casey.  “The officer discharged his service weapon and striked the vehicle three times before it continued south bound.”

After allegedly attacking the parade, Brooks drove to several nearby residences and was arrested on a resident’s front porch later that evening. 

As Court Commissioner Kevin M. Costello wrapped up the hearing, a modification was made to extend Brooks’ no-contact order to the additional 60 victims who were injured during the event. 

His arraignment hearing is set for Feb. 11 at 10:15 a.m.