Waukesha Christmas parade attack suspect appears in court for prior case

A Milwaukee County judge on Monday ordered Darrell Brooks Jr., the man charged in the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade attack that left six people dead, to make an in-person appearance in February 2022 for an unrelated case.

Brooks, 39, is accused of trying to run over the mother of his child in Milwaukee on Nov. 2. He was on a $1,000 bail for this case when he allegedly drove his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21.

He is currently being held in Waukesha County Jail and has been charged with six counts of intentional homicide in the crash that injured more than 60 people.

Over a Zoom status hearing, Judge Michelle Havas also increased his bail to $200,000 to secure his next court appearance for this case. Brooks had to dial into the hearing since the jail didn't have Zoom capabilities.

Matthew Torbenson, who appeared on behalf of the state, asked for an increase in cash bail to $200,000 for this case due to the "extraordinary" and "very serious nature" of alleged bail violations by Brooks.

On Nov. 11, Brooks was issued a no-contact order with the witnesses in the case who goes by the initial EAP and DW. Torbenson, in the Zoom hearing, announced that while in custody, Brooks had made 49 calls to the victim, out of which 25 made it through.

The defense, consisting of Attorneys Robert Hampton and William Rakestraw, argued against an increase in the bail because their client was already facing a $5 million bail charge in the Waukesha case, which would secure his appearance in court. The judge quashed this argument, saying that she has a "huge reason" to think Brooks won't show up in court if his release is secured in another county such as Waukesha. She gave the hypothetical examples of someone stepping up to be his benefactor and paying off his $5 million bail as a possibility leading to such an outcome.

Toward the end of the hearing, Havas told Brooks that the no-contact order with the victim in the earlier case is still in place and that she would see him in court on Feb. 2, 2022, for his next appearance.