Bear will stay in jail

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Victoria Bear, the former Hudson woman convicted in connection with the death of local man Michael Strauch in 2007, has had her probation revoked. She will remain in the St. Croix County Jail until a formal hearing set for Oct. 20.

According to Mike O'Keefe, who heads the state probation office in Hudson, Bear violated the terms of her original probation when she was caught having drinks at a Woodbury, Minn., restaurant the day before she was supposed to turn herself into authorities to serve a one-year jail sentence.

Bear was released with several conditions, which included no alcohol consumption. Police tested her and found she had a blood alcohol level of 0.13 percent at the time of her arrest in Woodbury.

Following that incident, Judge Eric Lundell, who had originally sentenced Bear, vacated his original sentence and ordered her to serve five years in prison. That sentence was overturned last month by the state appeals court. Bear had served a year in Taycheedah Correctional Institution, a maximum and minimum security prison in Fond du Lac.

Bear’s status now returns to what it was at the time she was observed drinking at that restaurant on July 8, 2008. O’Keefe said her behavior was a clear violation of her probation conditions. His office is also looking into whether Bear participated in any counseling or treatment for her alcohol addiction, also part of the original sentence.

Bear’s case will be heard by an administrative law judge out of Eau Claire. One of the local probation agents will represent the state at the hearing. Bear has been represented by local attorney Jamie Johnson.

O’Keefe said that Strauch’s family has been advised of Bear’s status.

Tags: crime and courts, news, bear