By PAT MULVANEY
Monroe County Herald Editor
Court proceedings are moving ahead for a 52-year-old Tomah man accused of firing gunshots at a Wilton bar in March.
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Richard Radcliffe set a preliminary hearing date for Curtis Goulet during the defendant’s initial appearance Monday after his attorney, Andrew Martinez, requested the hearing take place within specified time limits.
The preliminary hearing, where the prosecution must show that enough evidence exists to charge the defendant, was set for May 10 at 8:30 a.m. If enough evidence is found tobind Goulet over for trial, he will enter a plea during a subsequent arraignment, which could take place immediately following the preliminary hearing.
Goulet remains in custody in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond. He is facing eight criminal counts, including attempted first-degree homicide as a result of a March 20 incident at the Hitchin’ Post Bar in Wilton.
According to the criminal complaint, Goulet was intoxicated when he arrived at the bar at around 11:45 p.m. and confronted the boyfriend of his soon-to-be ex-wife. Witnesses said the defendant started tapping the man, who he had worked with at Toro, on the shoulder before his estranged wife pushed him outside the front door and toward his truck.
Goulet then reportedly retrieved a handgun from his truck, which his estranged wife tried to wrestle from him. Goulet fired two shots, one which hit a neighboring building and the other which struck the entryway to the bar, one foot from where his estranged wife’s boyfriend was standing, the complaint alleges.
Goulet’s estranged wife then got the handgun away from him and ran back into the bar before the defendant left in his truck, according to the complaint.
A state patrol officer spotted Goulet’s truck on Highway 71 heading north toward Tomah and attempted to pull it over. The truck continued on to Tomah at the posted speed and eventually ran over a spike strip.
Goulet drove the truck to his residence, where police took him into custody without further incident. Police said the suspect’s speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol.
According to the complaint, Goulet told investigators he only meant to shoot the gun in the air and admitted he fired twice.
Besides attempted homicide, Goulet faces three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and single counts of fleeing an officer, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, disorderly conduct and operating without a license.
He faces 60 years in prison for the attempted homicide charge and 12 1/2 years each for the endangering safety charges.
In addition, police charged Goulet with third-offense drunk driving.
