Plea Hearing Delayed in Attempted Homicide of Waukesha Police Officer

A plea hearing scheduled in Waukesha County Circuit Court for a man accused of injuring his ex-wife and nearly killing a Waukesha police officer was delayed Friday.

Richard A. Petarius, 76, faces spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted of nine felonies and one misdemeanor levied against him – including attempted homicide.

Petarius will return to court Aug. 8 for the rescheduled plea hearing. If he does not accept a plea deal at that date, a jury trial begins Aug. 13.

Petarius pleaded not guilty in December for the incident that happened two days after a mass shooting at a Brookfield spa. He remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Petarius, who was a clown with Tripoli Shrine in 2008, is accused of pointing and shooting a shotgun at officers investigating a domestic abuse incident at Petarius’ ex-wife’s Racine Avenue home Oct. 23. Police shot at him before he returned fire at the officers, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers shot 26 times at Petarius as cover fire while getting to safety with Petarius’ ex-wife. One police officer was struck by bullet debris from Petarius’ returned shot, but Petarius was uninjured, according to the complaint.

The Waukesha officers’ call for backup prompted a large response with dozens of squad cars from other southeastern Wisconsin police agencies and the FBI, who were all debriefing from the mass shooting at the Azana Salon & Spa that occurred two days earlier.

Waukesha police officers Amanda Bauer and Jan Corrigan received a valor award – the highest award available for Waukesha police officers – for their actions to save the elderly woman's life.