SHAWANO, WIS. (AP) — A Wisconsin county board member is accused of choking one of his employees at his farm because the worker and a colleague overslept and missed the start of their shift.
The Shawano County Sheriff's office said Peter A. Schmidt has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and felony strangulation and suffocation.
Schmidt is a member of the county board. The workers say Schmidt came into their living quarters on Nov. 22, started yelling at them, and later choked one of the workers.
The encounter was recorded on one of the worker's phones.
Schmidt says he held a worker in place by his neck but "didn't choke him out."
