By Vicky Wedig
Staff Writer
Three men are charged with beating and robbing two men after allegedly getting kicked out of a party in Whitewater in the summer of 2013.
Lorenzo E. Rosario, Tony A. Turner II and Derrick L. Seay, all 22 and all of Racine, are charged in Walworth County Circuit Court with robbery with the use of force and two counts of misdemeanor battery, all as a party to a crime. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 31 for Rosaria, an initial appearance is scheduled for April 2 for Turner, and an initial appearance was scheduled for March 23 for Seay.
Facebook comments between one of the suspects and their friends led police to the men.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to the scene of a robbery with battered victims at a residence on West Peck Street in Whitewater on July 21, 2013.
Police encountered Joshua R. Sell and Ryan Miller, both of whom were beaten, who said three men approached them when they were trying to unlock the door to Sell’s residence. Sell said the three men punched him in the face multiple times and said, “Give me what you got.” Sell said he gave the suspects his wallet, which contained $40 cash.
Sell’s wallet was found at the scene, but the cash was missing.
Miller said the suspects also hit him three times, and he then escaped to the back yard, according to the complaint.
Later that night, an officer returned to the scene where Miller had confronted the tenant of a neighboring residence on Cottage Street where the suspects had been kicked out of a house party earlier, according to the complaint. Miller told police the tenant knew the names of the suspects, and another person at the party gave police the same descriptions of the suspects as Sell and Miller had provided. The tenant said the men were kicked out of the party after one of them tried to steal his cell phone.
On a lead from one of the partygoers, an officer checked the Facebook page of person who is a friend of the suspects from high school and from working at Goodwill. The officer saw a Facebook post from Rosaria that said, “Liq., me, Tony Turner and d seay is not a good combination.” Police identified “d seay” as Seay.
