Halloween Trick: Sussex Man Charged With Damaging Goat Skull Prop

A Sussex man’s Halloween romp through a haunted house in Waukesha resulted in his arrest after a large goat skull was damaged, according to a criminal complaint.

Paul M. Lange Jr., 49, was charged Thursday with criminal damage to property. If convicted, he faces up to $10,000 in fines and nine months in jail.

Lange is schedule for an initial appearance in court Feb. 11.

According to the criminal complaint:

Lange was in the Shadow Lands haunted house at the Wisconsin Feargrounds at the Waukesha County Expo Center when he was accused of breaking off the jaw on the prop Oct. 27.

Lange was detained and interviewed by law enforcement after the incident. He told authorities he couldn’t see very well because it was dark and he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

Lange denied damaging anything in the haunted house, stating he didn’t recall coming in contact with any skull- or head-like props.

“I just pushed them aside,” Lange told a deputy. “I didn’t hang on them or anything.”

However, a witness said he saw a man matching Lange’s description walk past the goat skull, return to it and shoved the prop into the wall, causing it to break.

The owner of the haunted house estimated the damage to be around $2,500.