A Platteville native who is a deputy sheriff in Trempealeau County received his department’s Medal of Honor after arresting a man in a home invasion.
Deputy Andy Sheldon was dispatched to a residence Sept. 4 after Trempealeau County dispatcher Mary Lee received a 911 call from Wendy L. Hagness, 46, in an Osseo garage saying an “unwelcomed male” was at her residence, according to the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office.
The caller then told Lee her husband, Jon, had just arrived and the visitor met him in the driveway, where he pulled a handgun, pointed it at his head, and ordered him to his knees. The man then ordered her husband into the house.
Sheldon and Osseo Police assistant chief Bryan Lee arrived at the house and got the woman out of the garage to safety. Other officers were taking positions at the scene when gunshots were heard.
As officers responded to the shooting, the man came out of the house, where Sheldon and Lee arrested him.
Jon Hagness was shot in the back, and was treated and released from an area hospital.
William Ledford, 53, Portage, faces charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon, burglary with a dangerous weapon, armed robbery, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, theft — movable property (special facts), felon possession of a firearm, operating a motor vehicle without owner consent, and second-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon. All eight charges have repeater or habitual criminal enhancers.
Ledford is scheduled for a trial in Trempealeau County Circuit Court beginning July 27. Ledford faces a separate charge of battery by prisoners as a repeater for an incident at Waupun Correctional Institution Oct. 6.
Trempealeau County Sheriff Richard Anderson said in a news release he is “immensely proud of the coordinated efforts of our 911 dispatch and local law enforcement. To say the least, these officers acted in every way we could hope in a situation such as this. Their deployment of emergency tactics brought a potentially life threatening situation to resolution with the highest quality and professionalism.”
Sheldon and Bryan Lee received the sheriff’s department’s Medal of Honor for “performing an outstanding act in the line of duty at imminent personal hazard to life, with full knowledge of the risk involved.” Mary Lee received the department’s Exceptional Service Medal “for a highly creditable meritorious act by a civilian employee of the department which brings acclaim to the employee and/or the Department as a result of an exceptional accomplishment, training, devotion to assigned work, or public service.”
