Fugitive caught near Stratford

By Casey Krautkramer and Kevin O’Brien

Stratford area residents were on high alert this past weekend while police officers from two counties searched for a man with a warrant for his arrest who was hiding in the woods in the town of Eau Pleine. Residents breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday morning after Marathon County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bartholomew “Bart” D. Baumann, 35, of Beloit, without incident. Baumann has been in trouble with the law for the last 15 years, with nine criminal cases listed between 2009 and 2023 in Rock County, including domestic abuse, battery, and fourth-degree sexual assault.

Baumann now faces a fresh set of charges after appearing in Marathon County Circuit on Tuesday, including trespassing, criminal property damage, resisting arrest and fleeing officers. He was also charged with second degree reckless endangerment and possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to reports from several deputies who were on scene during the search, Baumann spent the better part of two days hiding in the woods off of Kingswood Lane in the town of Eau Pleine

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before he was apprehended on Monday morning.

The two-day saga started on Saturday when the Marshfield Police Department notified the public on Facebook that Baumann had a warrant out for his arrest and that he’d driven from Marshfield to the area west of Stratford.

A man told The Record-Review that he was working in his garage in Eau Pleine at approximately 11 a.m. when Baumann drove into the yard and approached him, wanting gas for his car, which had bullet holes in it. Baumann kept grabbing a gun out of his shirt and pointing it at him, the man said. The man said he kept calm and siphoned gas out of his motorcycle to put into Baumann’s car so he could be on his way.

Later that day, a deputy was dispatched to the intersection of Kingswood Lane and Staadt Avenue after Baumann waved down a local resident on Staadt Avenue and asked him for gas or money to purchase fuel. Though he did not have any money on him, Baumann offered the resident $100 to drive him to Marshfield, but the man refused, according to reports. Baumann, who told the resident that he only had enough gas to drive about four more miles, eventually drove his maroon Ford Fusion onto a trail past the dead end on Kingswood and broke into a hunting cabin in the woods, according to police reports.

Deputies surrounded the cabin and called for a SWAT team due to Baumann being reported as armed and dangerous. While waiting for the SWAT team to arrive, deputies watched from a secure location as Baumann exited the cabin and got into his vehicle. Baumann initially sped his vehicle toward deputies as they yelled at him to stop and told him he was under arrest, but he eventually went into reverse and disappeared around the back of the cabin.

SWAT team members arrived, and with the assistance of a drone, they were able to clear the cabin. Officers found Baumann’s vehicle stuck in the mud on a nearby trail, and inside the vehicle, they discovered a semi-automatic pistol. The Smith & Wesson M& P Shield EZ was taken into evidence, along with Baumann’s phone and a single rifle round.

A K-9 was deployed to search for Baumann in the woods, but after 30 minutes, the dog was called off after it was unable to pick up a scent.

During this time, dispatch reported that a police officer in Athens had detained a person thought to be the suspect near the corner of STH 97 and CTH A south of the village. The person was held at gunpoint until it was determined he was not Baumann, according to police reports.

At about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night, Baumann was reported knocking on a resident’s door in the town of Eau Pleine. The resident called 911, and Baumann ran back into the woods.

Baumann was spotted several times by local residents over the weekend, but it wasn’t until Monday morning that police tracked him down. A deputy observed Baumann on Equity Street, just north of the cabin where he had previously hid, and he and another deputy pursued him into the woods and eventually caught up with him near the dead end of Kingswood Lane.

Based on the police reports, Baumann may have been under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms while he was on the run. While being arrested, Baumann reportedly asked deputies if they found any mushrooms in his vehicle and then said he likely ate all of them.

Also, the man who was waved down on Staadt Avenue said Baumann told him that he had been doing mushrooms for the past three days, and said “I’m really f-ed up and lost.”

SWAT teams from Marathon County, Marshfield and Portage County, along with police officers from the Stratford and Spencer police departments, the Wisconsin State Patrol, K-9 teams and drones were used in the search.

Baumann is scheduled to appear again in court in Wausau on July 12 for a review hearing, followed by a preliminary hearing on July 17. A $75,000 bond has been set.