TRF man sentenced for hitting motorcyclist with his pickup truck

by April Scheinoha Reporter A Thief River Falls man was sentenced Tuesday, Sept. 17 in Pennington County District Court for hitting a motorcyclist with his pickup truck, causing great bodily harm, in May 2022. Paul Gregory Piche, 37, was sentenced to 74 months in prison for a felony charge of first degree assault – great bodily harm. He was given credit for 846 days served. Piche was ordered to not use or possess firearms or ammunition for his lifetime unless his civil rights have been restored. He was ordered to supply a DNA sample. Piche was also ordered to pay $135 in fees and fines. The state has 30 days to file a certificate of restitution, and the defense has 30 days to object after that time. Piche had earlier pled guilty with a Norgaard plea. In a Norgaard plea, a defendant makes no claim of innocence, but he indicates that he is unable to recall the circumstances of the offense. As part of the plea agreement, related charges of felony second degree attempted murder – intentional, felony second degree assault with a dangerous weapon and gross misdemeanor harassment were dismissed. Unrelated charges of felony third degree assault and gross misdemeanor third degree criminal damage to property were also dismissed as part of two separate cases involving 2022 incidents in the Pennington County Jail. The first degree assault case had been set to go to trial in August. Piche had previously been found incompetent to assist with his defense. He has since been found competent. Prior to sentencing, Pennington County Crime Victim Advocate Angela Larson read a victim impact statement on behalf of Willow Brekke. Brekke wrote that her life has been irrevocably changed by the incident. It exacerbated her existing anxiety and depression, causing her to seek additional therapy. Brekke believes that fear and anxiety will likely be a lifelong challenge for her. She wrote that she has a pervasive fear of being followed and going to an ATM is a source of anxiety. Brekke’s husband, Andrew, provided his victim impact statement in court. He said he suffers every day from pain in his hip joints, shoulder and wrist since the accident. Andrew Brekke said he wakes up every morning in pain and goes to bed in pain. Tylenol doesn’t get rid of the pain. He said he will need hip replacements by age 60. “I can’t walk long distances without my pain getting in my way,” Brekke said. Prior to sentencing, Piche was given the opportunity to speak. He apologized to the Brekkes and said he thinks about the incident a lot. Piche said the incident wouldn’t have happened if he was on his medication at the time, but he noted that wasn’t a real excuse. He added that he would do anything to stop the incident from happening and hoped the court would prevent such an incident in the future. Complaint The charges stemmed from a May 23, 2022, report that Piche intentionally hit Andrew Brekke with his pickup truck in rural Thief River Falls. Piche followed Willow Brekke from Border Bank to Seven Clans Casino, Hotel and Water Park in Thief River Falls. Two of her children were in the vehicle at the time. After realizing she was being followed, Willow Brekke contacted her husband, who confronted Piche at the casino. The couple doesn’t know Piche. According to the complaint, Andrew Brekke told Piche that he was “literally 10 feet behind her at 60 miles an hour. You don’t do that unless you’re following or trying to intimidate.” Brekke said he also told Piche to leave his wife alone or he would become mad and do things that he didn’t want to do. In the meantime, his wife and kids drove away. According to the complaint, Piche told him that he “wasn’t trying to do anything.” Brekke then mounted his motorcycle, but he noticed that Piche was closely following him. Piche then hit the motorcycle with his pickup truck on the casino frontage road, leading Brekke to slam on his brakes and bail from the motorcycle. He attempted to grab his phone to take a picture. Piche accelerated, and Brekke tried to get out of the way. Piche swerved, hitting Brekke while driving over a curb. The impact of the crash caused Brekke to fly into a ditch. Piche then sped away. Brekke said the front of the vehicle made contact with his body. Neither his wife nor kids saw the assault, but his wife had turned around and saw her husband lying on the ground afterward. The complaint indicated that Brekke, then 36, suffered a fractured arm and severely bruised ribs. Piche was arrested three hours later in Crookston after the then-Pennington County sheriff’s investigator conducted a GPS location ping on Piche’s cell phone and later observed Piche’s pickup truck traveling on Highway 2. Piche told law enforcement that he had struck a deer near the casino and “fur” was still on the vehicle. His Ford Ranger had sustained front-end damage, but there was no fur or hair on it. Sentencing arguments The defense and state were given the opportunity to provide arguments related to sentencing Tuesday. Assistant Pennington County Attorney Kristin Hanson showed a video excerpt of the incident while making her argument. Hanson asked Judge Tamara Yon to execute a 74-month prison sentence, saying there was no compelling reason to depart from the sentencing guideline. She agreed that Piche has a long history of mental illness, but she didn’t agree that he would take his medications as directed. She noted that Piche has decided on multiple occasions to not take his medications despite the court, probation and his family telling him to do so. Hanson indicated Piche has a long history of legal issues and the pre-sentence investigation referred to a lot of his legal issues involving assaultive and threatening behavior. She further pointed out that Piche doesn’t know the Brekkes. Piche’s attorney, Joe Irby, argued for a downward dispositional departure. He sought a stay of execution with credit for time served. Irby also sought for 10 years of supervised probation. He asked that probation be given the ability to access to Piche’s pharmacy records and the ability to administer monthly drug tests to ensure he is taking his medication. Irby also sought an annual psychological evaluation. During his argument, Irby referred to two doctors’ reports, noting it was believed Piche may have been suffering from a manic episode at the time of the incident. As a result, he may have perceived an action as a threat when someone not suffering from a manic episode wouldn’t have the same perception. Irby noted that the incident started after Piche perceived or thought he recognized Willow Brekke as a nurse since he was suffering from a skin rash. Irby said he doesn’t know if Piche comprehended Willow Brekke wasn’t a nurse. He added that he doesn’t think anyone would act differently than Andrew Brekke acted once he learned about Piche following his wife. Irby further noted that Piche has a long history mental illness and has been in and out of various treatment centers. He cited letters submitted on Piche’s behalf. The letter writers wrote that Piche is kind, hard-working, helpful, funny and likeable when he is taking his medications. Irby also addressed that Piche hadn’t taken his medications when he was on probation for another case. One doctor questioned whether Piche’s condition enabled him to make a conscious decision to stop taking the medications. Irby noted that Piche began taking his medications again after the probation violation hearing and was later discharged from probation in that unrelated case. Incarcerating Piche further wouldn’t solve the problem, said Irby, who noted the key was to keep Piche on his medications. He indicated that Piche’s mom, Sharon, has done a lot to try to get him help when she sensed he needed it. Irby noted that Sharon Piche wrote that she contacted then-Sheriff Ray Kuznia, who said there was nothing he could do. Irby further pointed to issues involving Piche obtaining psychiatric treatment or a treatment schedule since there were issues with Pennington and Red Lake counties not wanting to pay for such care. After hearing both attorneys’ arguments, Yon said there were no identifiable, substantial or compelling circumstances to depart from the sentencing guideline. She said everyone agrees that Piche suffers from bipolar disorder and needs medications. However, Yon referred to Piche’s five civil commitment hearings since 2008 and several criminal matters. She noted that those issues wouldn’t have happened if Piche had taken his medications. Yon added that this wasn’t the first court proceeding involving Piche where he was in trouble for hurting someone when he wasn’t taking his medication.