Darrel Brooks faces a total of 77 charges
The Waukesha Christmas Parade killer leaned out his window to steer because someone had landed on his windshield and was blocking his view after he drove his SUV through the crowd, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint that added 71 new charges against him.
Darrell Brooks, 39, steered his Ford Escape for five blocks through the parade route in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, suburb of Waukesha on November 21, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
Authorities estimate that the SUV reached speeds of up to 25 mph and said some people landed on the hood, with Brooks carrying them along.
The complaint also alleged that just before the tragedy, Brooks drove her ex-girlfriend around, steering with one hand and punching her in the face with the other because she didn't post bail for him after he was arrested for running her over and breaking her leg.
Prosecutors suggested that Brooks plowed into the crowd fully aware that his actions would lead to the endangerment and possible death of multiple people.
'All of the victims who were killed and most of the people that were injured were walking right down the middle of the road in plain view,' the complaint said.
'[The street] was clearly closed to traffic, there were barricades in place and police present to direct motorists for the entire length of the parade route.'
Brooks, who faces life in prison if convicted, is currently being held on $5 million bail at the Waukesha County Jail. The Christmas parade tragedy was the latest in a series of violent crimes he is tied to going back 22 years and spanning across numerous states.
Footage shared online in November, showed some victims just seconds before Brooks plowed through the crowd, as horrified pedestrians tried to get out of the way
Prosecutors added dozens of charges Wednesday, January 12. Above, Darrell Brooks, center, is escorted out of the courtroom after making his initial appearance, Tuesday, November 23, 2021 (File photo)
Prosecutors charged Brooks with six counts of homicide two days after the parade.
They added 71 new charges against him Wednesday, including 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon for each person injured at the November 21 incident, along with the six homicide charges, according to court records filed on Wednesday.
Each charge carries a possible penalty of seven-and-a-hal- years in prison. The first-degree homicide charges carry a mandatory life sentence if Brooks is convicted.
He also faces six counts of hit-and-run involving death, two counts of bail jumping and two counts of domestic abuse battery, according to court records.
Brooks is a registered sex offender and has been arrested more than 15 times in the state of Wisconsin alone for charges including possession of drugs, strangulation and suffocation, battery, illegally possessing firearms as a convicted felon and resisting arrest.
He is set to appear in court Friday for a preliminary hearing, in which a judge will most definitely decide there's enough evidence to proceed to trial.
Just minutes before driving through the parade, Brooks beat up the mother of his child because she had not bailed him out of jail several days earlier after he was arrested for running her over with the same SUV, the complaint said.
Brooks' ex-girlfriend told investigators that he broke her leg when he ran her over in early November.
He walked out of jail two days before the parade after his mother posted $1,000 bail.
The SUV was found around five blocks from where the parade carnage took place, parked in a driveway
Main Street in downtown Waukesha is seen blocked off with crime scene tape after a car plowed through a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S., November 22, 2021
Brooks' ex-girlfriend told investigators that the day of the parade, she met Brooks at a Waukesha park and got into the SUV, where they argued about why she didn't bail him out of jail.
He drove her around, steering with one hand and punching her in the face with the other, the complaint filed
