Dec. 21, 2024
VIROQUA, Wis. – The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 51-year-old Jacob Sell after several days of what the Sheriff’s Office calls a “barrage” of harassing, intimidating, and profane telephone calls to the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center. The Sheriff’s Office goes on to say the frequent calls over the course of several days culminated Thursday morning when Sell came to the Sheriff’s Office disrupting communications and operations while staff were busy serving the community during a winter storm. Sell was taken into custody Thursday morning, December 19, at approximately 6:30 a.m., at the Sheriff’s Office.
Sell has a history of altercations with law enforcement including previous incidents at the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office and with the La Farge Police. In September, Sell defended himself in a two day trial on several charges that stemmed from the La Farge Police trying to enforce an ordinance in the village regarding unregistered vehicles on city streets. Village Police ticketed an RV owned by Sell and parked on a city street. Sell tried to stop police officers from taking the vehicle to the county impound and later had an altercation with officers at the Village offices.
Additional charges were filed when Sell went to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office to retrieve personal belongings that were in the impounded vehicle. Sheriff’s Office personnel, including dispatchers, testified that Sell was making disturbance in the public lobby at the Sheriff’s Office and making it difficult for dispatchers to do their job.
Sell was also charged with criminal damage to property for damage to his cell after he was taken into custody for plugging drains and flooding the area as well tampering with other parts of the cell including destroying a mattress. Sell made claims in court that he was mistreated by the Sheriff’s Office while in custody including being placed in solitary confinement for “72 hours”, deprived of water, and being restrained in a “Hannibal Lecter chair” for 3.5 hrs.
Sell also faced a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia for items found in his RV but those charges were later dropped when Sell argued the items could have other uses.
Sell also faced a bail jumping charge when police said they spotted him in a location in the village he was not allowed to be while on probation.
From all those incidents Sell went to trial on:
- Bail jumping – found not guilty by jury
- Possession of drug paraphernalia – dismissed by prosecutor
- Possession of THC – found not guilty by jury
- Disorderly conduct – found not guilty by jury
- Two counts of criminal damage to property – found guilty by jury
At trial Sell argued his own case and convinced the jury to find him not guilty on three of the charges and was able to convince the court to dismiss the possession of drug paraphernalia charge. Sell successfully convinced the jury the disturbance in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office was protected under his right to free speech and did not impede the work of the office. On the disorderly conduct charge related to the altercation with officers when they were impounding the vehicle Sell argued the village had not communicated the RV was a problem other than placing the ticket on the windshield, and he was within his rights to try to prevent the removal. Sell was also able to convince the jury that their was not clear evidence of possession of THC in the amounts required to be charged.
The jury did find there was enough evidence from testimony by jail staff that Sell had caused the damage to county property to find him guilty on that charge.
Sell argued to the jury throughout the trial that he was being targeted by police chief because they did not like him. Police Chief Steve Palmer testified that contacts with Sell would often turn confrontational and Sell would sometimes call him at his home and verbally harass him.
As a result of this most recent incident with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office Sell was booked into the Sheriff’s Office Detention Center for unlawful use of telephone, disorderly conduct, and harassment. The defendant appeared in Vernon County Circuit Court on Thursday, at 1:00 p.m., and was released on a $1,000 signature bond with the following conditions of release:
- No contact with the Village of La Farge police chief unless it is an emergency
- No contact with the Village of La Farge police chief’s personal residence nor the chief’s family
- No contact with the Village of La Farge Police Department unless it is an emergency and only after calling 911
- No contact with the Village of La Farge village hall or employees except by mail for official business
- No contact with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office unless it is an emergency. Sell is allowed to contact the Sheriff’s Office by mail for official business. The court specifically included Dispatch and Corrections in the no contact prohibition.
Sell is due back in Vernon County Circuit Court on January 8 at 8:30 a.m. Formal charges will be sought through Vernon County District Attorney Angela Palmer-Fisher. A charge is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Assisting the Sheriff’s Office at the time of arrest was the Viroqua Police Department. Also assisting in the investigation was the La Farge Police Department and Vernon County Information Technology Department.
The Sheriff’s Office states no more details will be released until the court case is concluded.
Sheriff Roy Torgerson expressed his gratitude to his staff for how they handled the incident.
“Besides the defendant’s constitutionally protected presumption of innocence,” said Torgerson. “I would like to thank not only my deputies that took an oath, but all staff who worked tirelessly, in many difficult situations to protect the defendant’s first amendment right to free speech. I want to thank my staff for their dedication, patience, and highest level of professionalism communicating with the defendant as he expressed his grievances.”
The investigation into the incident continues.
Add comment