Fairbury Man Gets 5 to 12 Years for Assault

Tyler Scott Will, 23, of Fairbury, was sentenced to five to 12 years in Jefferson County District Court on July 7, 2022. He appeared in court in the custody of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Julie Smith was the presiding judge.The defendant was originally charged with second degree assault, a class 2A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, a class 2 felony that carries a minimum of one and a maximum of 50 years in prison.On January 7 of this year, Jefferson County Deputies were dispatched to a residence in Fairbury, responding to a report of an assault. According to the Warrantless Arrest Affidavit, “The reporting party stated the victim was bleeding from the head and ambulance personnel were dispatched to the house.”The alleged victim claimed the defendant, “hit him in the head with a metal wrench of some sort.”The weapon was later identified in court as a crowbar.The suspect was arrested later that same day. According to the affidavit, “Tyler denied all allegations of the assault.”Will is represented by Public Defender Scott Gropp. At arraignment on January 19 of this year, Gropp told the court, “My client, he intends to raise a self-defense claim.”However, a plea agreement was later reached. Will pleaded No Contest to second degree assault. The charge of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be re-filed.A PSI (Pre-Sentencing Investigation) was completed and the Probation Office recommended incarceration.The defendant has a criminal history, including a conviction or assault in Washington County in 2019.Will requested probation. Gropp blamed his client’s criminal behavior on drug use, which he said, “Created problems with his thought processes, with his attitude, with his mood.”Gropp noted that Will had been clean and sober while in jail and requested probation for his client.The court was also presented with a Victim Impact Statement. Judge Smith said, “This was an assault involving a weapon on an elderly neighbor who asked you to turn your music down. According to the Victim Impact Statement, you also threatened his wife with a crowbar and then you hit the victim in the head a number of times. He had to get 19 stitches. He has permanent injuries and, frankly, with the force that you used on him this could have actually been a lot worse.”“The court finds that you are not a suitable candidate for probation, given the violence that occurred. Really, there's no excuse for it. The victim didn't do anything that should have provoked you to assault him,” said the judge. “It does appear that you feel bad for what occurred and that you do feel bad for the victim. But he has permanent injuries and he's never going to be the same and there was really no reason whatsoever for him to get hit with a crowbar.”The judge sentenced the defendant to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to serve no less than five years and no more than 12 years, with credit for 181 days’ time served.Will was then remanded to the custody of the Sheriff’s Office to carry out the sentence.

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