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Business owner brutally beaten in burglary

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Jacob Erwin

Thomas Wilkins

Kellen Jeffords

Wasabi Japanese Restaurant in Bridgeport was closed late last week after the owner was severely beaten and the restaurant burglarized, allegedly by three Illinois rail workers Wednesday, Oct. 21. A tribute gift of balloons and a stuffed animal were tied to the front door of the establishment, along with a card with Kim’s name on it, Friday.

By Ted Pennekamp and Correne Martin

Three Illinois rail workers were arrested last week after they allegedly brutally beat a Prairie du Chien man and left him unconscious inside the Wasabi Japanese Restaurant he owns, according to Crawford County Sheriff Dale McCullick.

Young Su Kim, who was initially taken to Crossing Rivers Health, was med-flighted to a La Crosse hospital with severe head and brain trauma. A Wasabi employee who arrived to work at the restaurant Wednesday, Oct. 21, around 3:30 p.m., found Kim, 42, sitting unresponsive in a chair and covered in blood.

Officers from the sheriff’s department and the Prairie du Chien Police Department responded to the scene, as well as Tri State Ambulance.

Upon the officers’ arrival, they found Wasabi to be burglarized and Kim physically beaten. Investigators processed the scene and gathered evidence, which led them to interview three men who were in Prairie du Chien working for RailWorks on the local rails.

Jacob Erwin, 24, of Salem, Ill., Kellen Jeffords, 24, of Wamac, Ill., and Thomas Wilkins, 22, of Salem, Ill., were all arrested on suspicion of battery and burglary and charges are pending. The men were held in Crawford County Jail as of Friday, with bonds ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.

The initial appearance for the three suspects will be Nov. 2 in Crawford County Circuit Court and charges are expected to be filed at that time. The incident is still under investigation and further charges could be filed later, relating to Kim’s condition, according to Sheriff McCullick.

McCullick said Kim remained in critical condition on Friday. “He comes in and out of consciousness. We’re not sure but we think he’s going to make it,” the sheriff stated, noting that Kim might have been left in his unconscious state inside the restaurant for as long as 12 hours before the employee found him.

According to the probable cause statement filed in Crawford County Circuit Court on Oct. 22, Erwin, Jeffords and Wilkins were located by authorities at a Prairie du Chien motel.

Upon questioning, Erwin admitted that on the evening of Oct. 20, he, Jeffords and Wilkins were customers at Wasabi and later went out drinking at a Prairie du Chien bar with Kim and a Wasabi employee.

Erwin told investigators that, upon leaving the bar, he, Wilkins and Jeffords gave Kim a ride back to the restaurant during the early morning hours of Wednesday, Oct. 21, according to the probable cause statement.

Erwin told investigators that, upon returning to the restaurant, Wilkins punched Kim in the face, causing Kim to become unconscious. Erwin said Kim’s keys were used unsuccessfully in an attempt to gain entry into the restaurant, the probable cause statement said. Erwin said he then broke out a window in order to gain entry and unlock the door. Erwin told investigators that Kim was taken inside the restaurant where Jeffords kicked Kim in the head as Wilkins burglarized the restaurant, according to the probable cause statement. Erwin said the three men then fled the restaurant with the cash register.

According to the probable cause statement, Wilkins admitted to punching Kim in the face and said he saw Erwin break out the restaurant window.

Jeffords told investigators he had been in Kim’s restaurant earlier in the evening. However, Jeffords claimed no recollection regarding further details of the incident due to severe intoxication, according to the probable cause statement.

RailWorks, which is based in New York, builds and maintains rail lines across the U.S. and Canada. Although initial reports said the three suspects were working on Burlington Northern Santa Fe rails, BNSF Director of Public Affairs for the Midwest Amy McBeth said “I can tell you definitively that they were not contractors for BNSF.”

Canadian Pacific Railway spokesman Andy Cummings said RailWorks is a CP contractor in the area, though he would not confirm on which rails the company was working.

According to area news reports, a RailWorks spokesperson said the men were employees and the company is looking into the matter.

Sheriff McCullick views this to be an isolated incident and said there is no reason for the public to be concerned about related crimes occurring. “The majority of the railroad workers in our community are very good people. You’re going to have a few bad apples no matter where you are,” he said. “There’s no reason to be worried.”

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