BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2017 VOL. 55 NO. 22 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
OUTLET 35: Sisters open overstocked and under-priced store. P7
Charges filed in hit-and-run death BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
SIREN—Criminal charges have been filed against Domminic Angelo Richard Haugen, 35, Radisson, in the hit-and-run death last summer of 30-year-old Courtney Oustigoff. According to the criminal complaint filed in Burnett County Court Tuesday, Oustigoff was struck sometime after 10:53 p.m. the evening of June 14 and before 6:11 a.m. the morning of June 15. Burnett County Sheriff detectives received an anonymous tip that Haugen had struck a female with his white Dodge pickup truck and dragged her a distance. He had then gone home, cleaned the truck and then put animal blood on it to cover up the damage. Authorities seized the truck, and a search of the vehicle revealed a piece of cloth stuck between a clamp and a hose near the transmission. Additionally, officers detected an odor of decomposition by the driver’s side front tire once the
tire was removed. Officers also collected mud caked in that area. The oil pan was damaged and some rigid fluid lines on the driver’s side of the transmission were bent – damage consistent with a strike to the vehicle from underneath. They found several areas of what appeared to be biological material on the vehicle undercarriage. The state crime lab reported the samples were consistent with those located at the scene. Haugen allegedly admitted to a third party that he indeed had struck Oustigoff, stating “it was an accident and he did not mean to do it,” adding he was going down the road faster than he should have and that he ended up hitting someone. He was not sure if the person died or not and he “just took off.” The defendant said he never went back, and later learned that Oustigoff was dead. If found guilty of the Class D Felony, Haugen faces up to 25 years in prison, up to a $100,000 fine, or both.
Board, pilots reach lease accord BY STEVE BRIGGS SENTINEL
GOOB COY| SENTINEL
Holy crappie The fish were biting like crazy during the Grantsburg American Legion Ice Fishing Contest on Big Wood Lake on Saturday, with tip-up flags flying everywhere. More photos on Page 2.
GRANTSBURG—After nearly two years of wrangling, the Grantsburg Village Board and pilots who rent or own hangars at the Grantsburg Municipal Airport found a lease they can both accept. The board approved the lease at Mon-
day’s board meeting. Pilot and board member Rod Kleiss, who rents a hangar from the village, abstained from the vote. The details were hammered out at a committee meeting. Grantsburg pilots Scott Hanson and Rod Kleiss met for nearly two hours last Wednesday with the SEE AIRPORT, PAGE 6
Vitale joins ranks of elite scouts BY LORI CALLAHAN SENTINEL
GRANTSBURG—In true Eagle Scout tradition, Grantsburg’s Teddy Vitale is ready to give back. “Everyone looked up to the Eagle Scouts,” he said of the Tomahawk Boy Scout camp staff. “As a younger scout, they really motivated me to keep going with scouts. So, I’m excited to give that experience back to other kids younger than me.” On Thursday, Vitale, the son of Dr. Blaise and Suzanne Vitale, earned his Eagle Scout Badge — the highest achievement attainable in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Vitale, a junior at Grantsburg High
School, earned 41 merit badges — 20 more than the number required to obtain Eagle Scout designation. “This achievement and the road to it have made Teddy a mature, responsible and respectful young man,” Suzanne said proudly. “Scouting opens up so many doors for things he would never have gotten a chance to do,” Blaise pointed out. “He has to live up to being an Eagle Scout the rest of his life. This will encourage him to become a better person so he can make the best of his God-given abilities.” “People call the Eagle Scout award the ‘PhD of Boyhood.’ It’s the only thing you can
do as a kid that will make it to your obituary,” he added. Blaise serves as an assistant scoutmaster for Teddy’s troop. At Thoreson Park on Big Wood Lake, Teddy’s Eagle Project – a commitment to his community – is there for all to see, use and enjoy. In June, he expertly crafted picnic tables built to National Park standards accessible to able-bodied and handicapped persons alike. He and volunteers he recruited also planted flowers and spruce trees. “I heard from Big Wood Lake Association meetings that they needed new picnic tables SEE VITALE, PAGE 27
Teddy Vitale
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