The Madison man pursued by Grant and Iowa county authorities Sept. 10 now faces 38 felony and misdemeanor charges, including one federal charge.
James M. Kruger, 36, Madison, was indicted by a federal grand jury in U.S. District Court in Madison Wednesday on a charge of felon possession of a firearm.
Kruger is accused of possessing a .22-caliber gun, a loaded 9-mm handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun Sept. 10. The maximum sentence is 10 years in federal prison.
In Grant County, Kruger faces eight counts of felony bail jumping, felony counts of armed robbery, taking hostages and releasing without bodily harm, vehicle operator fleeing or eluding an officer, strangulation and suffocation, and discharging a firearm from a vehicle toward a person, two counts of intentionally pointing a firearm at someone, and one count of misdemeanor battery.
Kruger was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Grant County Circuit Court in Lancaster today at 1:30 p.m. Kruger appeared in court via video Friday morning for his first appearance on the charges.
In Iowa County, Kruger faces eight counts of felony bail jumping, two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping, two counts each of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, vehicle operator fleeing or eluding an officer and false imprisonment, one felony count of driving a vehicle without owner consent, and one misdemeanor count each of theft of movable property of up to $2,500 and carrying a concealed weapon.
Kruger also faces four Iowa County traffic charges — driving the wrong way on a divided highway, failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless driving and first-offense operating with a restricted controlled substance.
Kruger’s first appearance in Iowa County Circuit Court in Dodgeville is set for Oct. 8 at 9 a.m.
Kruger faces more than 200 years in prison and more than $500,000 in fines if convicted of all the charges. All of the charges include repeater modifiers, which add six years to the maximum sentence for each felony count and two years to the maximum sentence for each misdemeanor count. Seven of the Iowa County felony charges include a use-of-a-dangerous-weapon modifier, which adds five years to the maximum sentence.
Kruger led law enforcement officers from four different counties on an extended search and high speed chase Sept. 10, initially in connection with a stabbing in Madison Sept. 9. No charges have been filed in connection with the stabbing, according to court records.
Kruger is accused of beating and robbing his uncle in Cassville, taking a man hostage and stealing his truck, stealing another vehicle after his hostage escaped in Dodgeville, and leading authorities on a chase, often at high speeds, on U.S. 18 in Grant and Iowa counties before he was stopped near Blue Mounds.
Kruger was out on a $500 signature bond Sept. 4 after he was charged on a Dane County felony eluding charge Aug. 28. A status conference on that charge is set for Oct. 7 at 1:30 p.m.
