JUNEAU — A Beaver Dam man accused of wreaking havoc throughout Dodge County with pipe bombs and a rifle in two separate cases pleaded not guilty Wednesday to six felony charges.
Stephen D. Peterson, 19, is charged with first degree reckless endangerment, reckless use of a firearm and two counts each of being a party to damaging property with explosives and possessing explosives for an unlawful purpose.
He faces a combined maximum 105-year prison term if convicted all six counts.
Police say Peterson fired rounds from a .308 Winchester rifle into a motor home and a house located respectively in the towns of Lowell and Oak Grove on April 4, 2008.
The lead investigator in the case reportedly suspected Peterson of the shootings after learning that a Horicon police officer found a .308 Winchester rifle in Peterson’s car during a routine traffic stop in June 2008.
According to the complaint, the detective followed up with Peterson, who denied firing the shots into the motor homes, and later told the officer he had given the gun to a friend.
A break in the case came in April 2009 when Peterson and two other men were arrested for suspicion of using improvised explosive devises to blow up a portable toilet in Lost Lake Park on April 21 and a mailbox in the town of Burnett on April 20.
One of the suspects told police that Peterson had been responsible for shooting the homes in April 2008.
According to the complaint, police used a search warrant to seize the gun. Ballistics tests confirmed that Peterson’s rifle had been used to fire the spent shell casings found at the scene of both motor home shootings.
Peterson has been jailed since his arrest in May on the explosives charges. Future court proceedings have not yet been scheduled.