Police step up effort to eradicate heroin from community
By Heather Ruenz
Editor
In what Eagle Police Chief Russ Ehlers is calling “a great victory” in the war on drugs, a local man suspected of dealing heroin has been charged with a felony that could put him behind bars for more than 17 years.
William J. Suhm, 31, of Eagle, was arrested just before midnight Sept. 21 near Eagle Village Park. Police had been conducting surveillance on Suhm due to suspicions that he was dealing heroin in the village.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court:
A traffic stop was conducted at 11:56 p.m. Sept. 21 in the 600 block of Main Street in Eagle. Suhm was the passenger in a vehicle driven by Erika White.
Police searched White’s purse and allegedly discovered a syringe, a pipe, a tourniquet and a small corner of a plastic baggie. Inside White’s wallet police allegedly found a brown, folded up piece of paper that contained a light gray, powdery substance that field-tested positive as heroin.
White – who as of deadline for this story has not been charged with a crime for her alleged involvement – told police while working with Suhm at a bar earlier that evening, he received a phone call asking him if he could pick up heroin. He asked White if she would take him to Milwaukee to pick up heroin and she agreed. White allegedly said Suhm paid $200 for four and a half bags of heroin and told police the two of them stopped to shoot up heroin on the way back to Eagle.
In the glove box of the vehicle police allegedly found a larger, clear, plastic bag containing heroin paraphernalia including a syringe, cotton balls, aluminum cookers and a blue, elastic rubber band. A smaller, clear plastic bag containing five individually wrapped clear plastic bags, commonly referred to as “corner cuts” were also in the larger bag from the glove box. Each of those smaller bags contained a yellow/ white powder substance that appeared to be heroin.
Suhm, the complaint alleges, told police he is an extensive heroin user, using approximately one gram of heroin every day, sometimes up to three or more grams in a day.
“All of my money goes to heroin,” Suhm is reported as saying.
He is charged with possession with intent to deliver heroin, a Class F Felony that carries a maximum penalty of $25,000 and 12-1/2 years in prison. Because the offense occurred within 1,000 feet of a park, however, the prison sentence can be increased by up to five years.
Police step up effort
Ehlers, who said his department has been working overtime in an effort to remove heroin from the community, said it’s the drug of choice among users in Eagle as well as across the country.
“It’s an epidemic, leading Eagle police to continue putting forth a tremendous amount of time and resources in our effort to eradicate this killer drug from our community,” Ehlers said.
“Pulling a user off the street is a win but arresting the dealers in our community puts a huge dent in the supply chain and that’s a great victory in this battle,” he added.
The chief said his agency is committed to aggressively pursuing criminal charges on the users and dealers of heroin in the community and said the message is simple.
“If you bring heroin to Eagle, expect to go to jail. If you deal heroin in Eagle, expect to go to prison,” Ehlers said.
The department declined to give details regarding its ongoing investigation but did indicate that their undercover work reached “far and wide” and involved multiple jurisdictions.
“We’re not going to stop hunting down and prosecuting the heroin users and dealers until they clean up, give up or go somewhere else,” Ehlers said.
