The latest on Waukesha parade tragedy
Matt Finn reports the latest on Darrell Brooks at he makes his first court appearance on ‘Special Report’.
This is the first in a two-part series about letters sent from Darrell Brooks Jr. during his stay in Wisconsin jails. Please check later for more.
FIRST ON FOX – Darrell Brooks Jr., the man behind the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy, spent nearly two decades dodging child support payments and court appearances related to supporting his son — and during that time he sent the court commissioner overseeing the matter two handwritten notes, including a letter asking for one “more shot” and griping that he was being treated unfairly, Fox News has learned.
Brooks sent the letters to two separate court officials just shy of two years apart, each time from a Wisconsin jail, as the total he owed in child support payments surpassed $17,300, according to court records obtained by Fox News Digital. As of Nov. 16, 2021, Brooks owed $41,239.36 in connection with his paternity case for his son, records show.
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Darrell Brooks, charged with killing five people and injuring nearly 50 after plowing through a Christmas parade with his sport utility vehicle on November 21, appears in Waukesha County Court in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S. Nov. 23, 2021. (Mark Hoffman/Pool via REUTERS)
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Waukesha parade suspect Darrell Brooks arrives in court for his arraignment. ( )
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Waukesha Sheriff’s Department (Waukesha Sheriff’s Department)
The letters provide a glimpse into the mind of a man now facing six life sentences if convicted on all charges related to the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy of Nov. 21, when he drove his maroon Ford Escape into the crowd. Six paradegoers died, including an 8-year-old boy and an 81-year-old man, and dozens more were injured.
Brooks sent his first missive to then-Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Laura Lau on Nov. 10, 2009, after violating privileges, known as “Huber privileges,” that placed him in a specific county facility and allowed him leave for certain amounts of time during the week, to work or find a job. At the time, he was serving a 45-day sentence for allegedly failing to pay child support and had left the premises on Oct. 29, 2009 for an approved four-hour stint.
But records show he returned two hours late, claiming “he missed a bus and had to walk back” to the facility, according to a letter from jail officials. He allegedly gave officers an outdated bus pass to try to sell them his story. The jail instead requested his Huber privileges be revoked.
Darrell Brooks’ home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
(Fox News/Rebecca Rosenberg)
“I was transferred back to the County Jail on 10-30-09 due to a misunderstanding on the previous day,” Brooks wrote to the court commissioner in a neat cursive. “Let me explain why I feel this is a misunderstanding; as you might know, I’m from California and I’ve been going back and forth from California to Milwaukee basically my whole life. I’ve never been in the city of Waukesha, so it’s hard for me to get around on a bus line in a city where I have to learn how everything works.”
Brooks went on to tell Lau that he had been taking two medications since October that can make it “hard to remember certain things and also to keep myself up.” He admitted he had gone somewhere he “wasn’t supposed to” and added: “I won’t make any excuses for that.”
He proceeded to write that he tried calling the facility to tell officers he was lost and get directions. It was his “1st and only write-up,” he said, and added and that he’s seen other detainees return late “three times in a row” and only receive a warning.
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This Nov. 3, 2021 photo provided by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office shows Darrell Brooks. / A red SUV speeds past attendees moments before plowing into a crowd at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in this still image taken from a Nov. 21, 2021 social media video. (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office via AP | CITY OF WAUKESHA/Facebook/via REUTERS)
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Amy Mack lights candles at a memorial at Veteran’s Park for the victims of Sunday’s deadly Christmas parade crash in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
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Police officers close a street in downtown Waukesha the morning after a car plowed through a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Nov. 22, 2021. ( )
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People hold candles and embrace during a vigil in Cutler Park on Monday in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
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Police tape cordons off a street in Waukesha, Wis., after an SUV plowed into a Christmas parade hitting multiple people Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
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Scene of the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Brooks, who owed more than $13,000 in child support and related costs at the time of the first letter, then argued that he wasn’t treated fairly.
“I’m no better than anyone else, and I don’t feel I should be treated like I’m special, but to be frank Commissioner Lau, I feel like I was treated unfairly. That was not consistant (sic) with how they handled others who did what I did,” he complained. “Treatment should not be dictated by the [unintelligible] who works that day, I feel inmates should be treated equally, not differently.”
He said he lost work opportunities “behind this,” and was expecting “SSI,” presumably Supplemental Security Income to “come through soon.”
“I know I made a mistake and I’m sorry,” he continues. “But I think it would be fair if I got 1 (one) last shot at Huber, just one last shot, I promise I wont (sic) let you down, you have my word on that.”
Lau, who is now a circuit court judge, did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request seeking comment.
Fox News Digital has chosen not to name the mother of Brooks’ child, but court papers regarding the paternity case were filed as recent as Nov. 18 – three days before the parade tragedy.
Brooks’ child support woes were also noted during his Nov. 23 court appearance related to the horror. During the appearance, Brooks cried and at times audibly sobbed as Court Commissioner Kevin Costello and District Attorney Susan Opper spoke, including when Opper announced that a sixth victim – the first child – had succumbed to his injuries.
“I have not seen anything like this in my very long career,” Costello said at the time.
Brooks has since been charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and ordered held on $5 million cash bail. His current criminal attorneys declined to comment for this story, while a civil attorney listed in records could not immediately be reached.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
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