Crime & Safety

Charges Filed in Brookfield Standoff

Police dogs had to drag a man out of a Mayfair Drive home where he had barricaded himself after allegedly causing a drunken driving crash in which his stepson died.

When a man fled a fatal crash and barricaded himself inside a Mayfair Drive home Nov. 13, he told police he knew his 8-year-old stepson had died and he planned to cut his own wrists, a criminal complaint alleged Tuesday.

But the Milwaukee man — Joseph A. Dandridge, 26 — refused to come out of the house and after six hours, officers threw tear gas inside and used a police dog to drag him out, according to the complaint.

Dandridge did have self-inflicted wounds that left a "considerable amount of damage" with blood on the home's walls, floor and other property. He also had bite marks on his legs from the police dog, the complaint said.

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Dandridge was charged Tuesday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with felony resisting arrest and misdemeanor criminal trespass and criminal damage to property.

He already is charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, fatal hit and run and operating a vehicle after revocation.

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Dandridge's 8-year-old stepson Donovan Thrash died in the Nov. 13 rollover crash on U.S. Highway 45 near W. Burleigh St. 

About two weeks after the crash, Thrash's mother, Sandra Dandridge died when a car she was driving crashed into a tree in Battle Creek, MI. Police there said they found an open bottle of whiskey in the car and Dandridge had been drinking.

According to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday: 

Homeowner Daniel Spiegel said when he saw a man walking past his house, he opened the door and the man pushed his way inside. The man had blood on his forehead and asked Spiegel, "I need a knife, do you got a knife?"

Spiegel said the man kept walking through the house, refusing his demands to leave. Spiegel said he then went to get a gun he owns and out his window saw a police officer motioning for him to get out of the house, which he did. He then put his gun down and moved away, as the SWAT team took over.

At one point Dandridge called 911 from inside the home, the criminal complaint says. He later told a dispatcher that he had cut his wrists. 

After the tear gas was used and the standoff ended, Dandridge told police he fled the crash scene because he had an arrest warrant for child support violations. He said after entering the Brookfield house, he panicked and took a number of medications.

Dandridge also said he has smoked marijuana before the car crash. His blood-alcohol level seven hours after the crash was 0.063. 

The complaint says in addition to the blood damage, the Mayfair Drive home was damaged from the tear gas rounds lobbed inside. "Almost every side of the residence had damage," including the front door and most windows. Some exterior siding had holes from the tear gas rounds.


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