Woman who stripped to avoid arrest gets six months jail

Sheboygan Press staff

January 15, 2010

Julia E. Laack

A 36-year-old Sheboygan woman will spend six months in prison for a bizarre series of offenses that began with stealing beef jerky and ended with stripping in front of her children and kicking a police officer in the groin.

Julia E. Laack, of 1603 S. 13th St., was sentenced Thursday by Judge Timothy Van Akkeren to the jail term and two years probation, said Assistant District Attorney Chris Stock.

She accepted a plea agreement two weeks ago under which she was convicted of felony battery to a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor counts of retail theft and resisting or obstructing an officer.

The charges carried a maximum penalty of more than four years in prison, and Stock had recommended nine months in jail as part of the agreement.

According to a criminal complaint, the Oct. 8 incident began after Laack was captured on surveillance video stealing beef jerky and a lighter from a convenience store. When police came to her home, Laack told officers they couldn't arrest her because she was going to be naked and then stripped to her underwear as her children stood by.

While being handcuffed, Laack tried kicked one officer in the groin, then manipulated a spit hood to spit into the mouth of a female officer who had re-dressed her. In the squad car, Laack exposed her buttocks against the rear window and told the female officer her children are going to die.

A breath test showed Laack had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11.

In an unrelated case, Laack is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 12 for allegedly working with her brother and another man to extort money from a 20-year-old gay man. The victim told police the three adults trapped him in a bedroom and forced him to pay them after they witnessed what they believed was inappropriate behavior toward a 15-year-old boy.

Laack accepted a plea agreement Jan. 12 under which she was convicted of felony false imprisonment and threats to injure or accuse of a crime. The crimes carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison.