Tragic news from Wisconsin, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
A Chippewa Falls man who repeatedly tried to block his estranged wife from driving to the polls Tuesday was hospitalized with head, neck and back injuries when she struck him with her sport utility vehicle.
Jeffrey Radle, a Gov. Scott Walker supporter, was on foot.
Amanda Radle, a recall proponent, was in a Dodge Durango.
The pair had been arguing early Tuesday afternoon over who she was going to vote for in the gubernatorial recall election primary, said Chippewa Falls Police Chief Wendy L. Stelter.
"She was planning on voting for a certain candidate, and it wasn't the candidate he wanted her to vote for," Stelter said.
I know this isn’t funny – Mr. Radle is still unconscious, but in stable condition, according to the Journal-Sentinel – but I love the fact that they told us precisely what kind of SUV Mrs. Radle was piloting during the confrontation. I guess the lesson, to paraphrase Sean Connery in The Untouchables, is: Don’t bring your sneakers to a Dodge Durango fight.
When Amanda Radle, 30, attempted to pull out, Jeffrey Radle, 36, stood in front of her, according to a police department statement. She nudged him with the vehicle several times.
Each time he would "retreat and re-establish his ground," the release said. "At one point he climbed onto the hood."
When she finally attempted to drive around him, Jeffrey Radle jumped in front of the vehicle and was hit. Amanda Radle left the scene and went to the police department to report the incident, the release said.
I seriously wonder how this is going to be prosecuted. Will it matter under Wisconsin law that she gave him warning “nudges,” and he was clearly attempting to detain her, in a manner that jeopardized his own safety? Why did she leave the scene after mowing him down, instead of calling the police on a cell phone, or the house phone?
It doesn’t sound like this was a terribly harmonious household:
"These crazy liberal nuts are always pulling this crap," said Radle's brother, Mike Radle, describing himself and his brother as firm supporters of Walker, the subject of the recall.
[…] Police have been called to the residence several times in the past, and the couple was believed to be separated, Stelter said.
Hopefully this is an isolated incident, not a harbinger of things to come in the increasingly less placid precincts of Wisconsin, and Mr. Radle makes a full recovery.
