MERRILL, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – A 24-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision for cutting brake lines on two vehicles in 2023.
David Genrich’s charges stem from crimes committed over a four-month span. Police said the incidents were motivated by his fixation on a co-worker who was dating, and is now married to, one of the victims.
Home surveillance video captured Genrich cutting the brake line on a man’s car at a Merrill residence. The victims, a son and father, issued impact statements in court.
In March 2023, Merrill police were notified that a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer had its brake lines cut while parked overnight in a driveway. Four days later in the same driveway, the brake lines were cut on a 2012 Dodge Ram driven by the father.
Police learned that Genrich drove a 2006 Jeep Commander, and found it parked at a Kwik Trip. An officer from Merrill PD snapped a photo of a man exiting the vehicle and showed it to Victim 2, who identified the person as Genrich.
Police also learned that Genrich worked with the victim’s girlfriend at Fleet Farm. Genrich told police he “wanted to be with her but knew that would not happen,” so he “lashed out” and cut the victim’s brake lines.
Genrich stated in court, “I am not asking them to forgive me, they have every right to feel the way they do about me and what I have done. Everything that I did had nothing to do with causing violence or harm to anybody.”
Genrich was ordered to pay restitution to the victims. Police also say a month before the brake lines were cut, employees at an auto shop found a bleach-like substance in the gas tank of one of the vehicles, but Genrich only admitted to cutting the brake lines.
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