MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors added dozens of charges Wednesday against a man accused of driving his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee last year, killing six people and injuring dozens.
Investigators believe Darrell Brooks Jr. drove his Ford Escape into the parade in downtown Waukesha on Nov. 21.
Prosecutors charged him two days later with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. They added 71 additional counts Wednesday, including multiple counts of reckless endangerment, hit-and-run involving death, bail jumping and battery.
Brooks’ attorney, Jeremy Perri, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Brooks was arrested in Milwaukee County on Nov. 5 for allegedly running over the mother of his child with his SUV. He walked out of jail two days before the parade after posting $1,000 bail.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has taken intense criticism for allowing his office to recommend Brooks bail be set at $1,000. Chisholm has said a young, overworked assistant prosecutor recommended that level of bail so she could move on to other cases. She never saw an evaluation of the dangers Brooks could pose to the community because the assessment was never entered into the district attorney’s office’s computer system, Chisholm told county officials in December.
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