Jail time for domestic assault

Published 7:46 am Thursday, November 4, 2010

A Waltham man who broke into a woman’s house and threatened her, a man and a teenage girl was sentenced to 60 days in Mower County jail and five years probation Tuesday.

Jeffrey Leonard Ehmke, 53, was found guilty in Mower County Court of felony domestic assault and fifth-degree misdemeanor assault. Two felony burglary charges were dropped.

Ehmke has 31 days credit for time already served, meaning he will serve 29 days in jail — possibly less if he receives credit for good behavior. He is serving five years supervised probation in lieu of a 21-month prison sentence at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility.

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Ehmke broke into the woman’s house in Waltham in early October. According to court documents, he “broke the frame of the back door and came charging into the house.”

Court records said Ehmke grabbed the man by the neck and threatened to beat him up if he didn’t leave. Ehmke then apparently struck the teenage girl under the chin with the palm of his hand.

Court documents said Ehmke left the house and punched the window of the man’s vehicle. Minutes later, he text messaged the woman and said he was returning to the house.

When he returned, Ehmke grabbed the woman by the sweatshirt, threw her onto the couch and began pulling her hair and calling her inappropriate names. The woman later complained that her head hurt from the hair pulling.

Police arrested Ehmke at his residence in Austin soon after the incident. His blood alcohol content was .115 percent.

Ehmke told police he forced the back door of the woman’s house open and admitted to grabbing the man and threatening him. He denied ever hitting the woman and said he pushed the teenage girl out of his way at one point.

Ehmke has previously been convicted of domestic assault in Mower County in January 2004 and third-degree assault in Dodge County in July 2006.

Conditions of Ehmke’s probation include abstinence from alcohol or controlled substances and no further assault incidents; he also has to take a chemical dependency evaluation and a domestic abuse evaluation.