Hill gets 4 years in prison
Published 10:30 am Tuesday, February 28, 2017
A 37-year-old Austin man who faced more than 32 felony counts after an 11-hour armed standoff with police on Dec. 10, 2016, in Lyle Township and other incidents is headed to prison.
Tyler John Hill was sentenced to serve four years in prison — three years from one set of cases, along with an additional year for another case — on Monday in Mower County District Court.
He was sentenced to following:
—a year and a day in prison for felony violating and order for protection, a consecutive offense;
—two years and three months in prison for felony violating an order for protection with credit for 79 days served, a concurrent offense;
—three years in prison for felony aggravated stalking with a dangerous weapon with credit for 79 days served, a concurrent offense;
—two years in prison for felony violating a domestic abuse no contact order with credit for 79 days served, a concurrent offense;
—a year and a half in prison for violating an order for protection with credit for 81 days served, a concurrent offense;
—a year and three months in prison for fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle with credit for 81 days served, a concurrent offense;
—a year and three months in prison for violating an order for protection with credit for 87 days served, a concurrent offense;
—and one year probation for fifth-degree drug possession, a concurrent offense.
Concurrent offenses are served at the same time as one another, so he’ll serve the longest sentence: three years with 79 days served, plus the consecutive sentence for a year and a day in prison.
Several other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement as he was originally charged with 32 felony counts from the standoff, an incident where he made harassing phones calls from the jail and other incidents.
On Dec. 10, 2016, Hill barricaded himself in a Lyle Township home with a shotgun. He eventually surrendered to police.
Hill then made 30 calls to the victim from the Mower County Jail from Dec. 29, 2016, to Jan. 3 — at least 23 were unanswered and messages were left on nine occasions. He also contacted another person 13 times asking the individual to contact the victim.
Many of the calls were threatening and abusive or asked the victim to dismiss the prior charges.
He also has faced charges from three other incidents where he violated a no contact order and allegedly stalked a victim.
On Jan. 5, Hill pleaded not guilty in Mower County District Court to seven felonies pertaining to the Dec. 10 standoff: terroristic threats, a pattern of stalking conduct, aggravated stalking with a dangerous weapon, violating an order for protection, violating an order for protection with a dangerous weapon, violating a domestic abuse no contact order, violating a domestic abuse no contact order with a weapon; and three gross misdemeanors for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
David Michael Huff, 36, of Waseca is accused of trying to assist Hill during the standoff ordeal and faces a felony count of aiding an offender and three gross misdemeanors for child endangerment.
Hill’s criminal history shows convictions for criminal vehicular homicide in 1999 and fifth-degree assault in 2007 in Mower County, along with fifth-degree assault in 2007 in Freeborn County. He was also out on pretrial release for felony charges for violating his restraining orders and felony drug possession in the three other Mower County cases.