Man accused of threatening Chippewa Co. courthouse appears in court

CHIPPEWA FALLS — The man accused of repeatedly making threats to the Chippewa County Courthouse and employees there appeared in court on Wednesday for the first time since he was extradited back to Wisconsin.

Harley Alcala, 40, of Duluth, Minn., is charged with making terrorist threats, threats to injure, and two counts of threats to a judge or prosecutor, stemming from a May 2023 incident. Alcala appeared via video conferencing from the Chippewa County Jail, where he waived time limits on his case. Dunn County Judge Luke Wagner, who was assigned to the case after all Chippewa County judges recused themselves, set a preliminary hearing for Aug. 7.

While Alcala is from Duluth, he has lived in Bandera, Texas, for much of the past year, and had been mentally committed for a period, which has delayed this case from reaching a conclusion. Alcala was taken back into custody in May and was extradited back here after new charges were filed after he issued a new threat to courthouse workers. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bond. At this time, no trial dates have been set.

The criminal complaint says Alcala was allowed Facetime calls with his daughter twice weekly, but was “inappropriate and disrespectful” toward the girl’s foster parents. In May 2023, state officials sought a hearing to suspend his visitation rights.

The day before the hearing, Alcala posted multiple threats against the proceedings, including saying that “If I don’t get my daughter I will kill you! Judge everyone.” A different post asked, “Ever see a court house shot up! Showing up with a toy hauler full of armored soldiers unlocked.”

Law enforcement concluded the threats were a serious concern and tightened courthouse security the next day. Other officers stopped him on U.S. 53 heading south toward Chippewa Falls. They arrested him on the spot, though not until after a SWAT team was called in because he refused to leave the vehicle.

While in custody, Alcala said he was drinking when he made the threats and “he didn’t intend on following through.”

Alcala was charged again in February after a new set of threats, and that is when the cash bond was reinstated. The criminal complaint in that case said Alcala called a woman representing him at a pending guardianship hearing. When he was belligerent on the phone, she switched to using email to communicate with him. Eventually, she told Alcala she was withdrawing as his attorney.

Alcala responded “I will kill you if you withdraw,” and made additional threats against the courthouse and judge.

The law enforcement officer reviewed Alcala’s Facebook page and read the comments Alcala posted, including threats towards the two judges and other courthouse workers. The comments posted by Alcala were included in the criminal complaint.

“Something real bad is going to happen very soon!!!!!” Alcala wrote in one post on his Facebook page, according to the criminal complaint. “Armys (sic) of people want to kill them as well as well for this.”