An April 21 traffic stop resulted in five felony charges against Billy John Kimmes, 47, of Superior.
Kimmes is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon; possession of methamphetamine; solicitation of harboring or aiding a felon; and two counts of bail jumping.
According to the criminal complaint, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ed Gallagher stopped a vehicle driven by Kimmes on Tower Avenue in Superior. Gallagher observed a handgun in plain view under the front passenger seat.
The passenger told Detective Matt Izzard with the sheriff’s office that Kimmes had the gun in his waistband, but he gave it to her when the vehicle was stopped and she hid it under her seat. She initially told Izzard that Kimmes had been with her since 1 a.m. that day, but later said she had been with other people at that time. She told Izzard that Kimmes had asked her to be his alibi for the past few hours, saying “I did something bad.”
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Facebook messages between the two, which the woman showed Izzard, reportedly included a message from Kimmes about hiding out in the boonies because he expected there to be a big search on for him and asking if there has been news of “anything drastic or tragic” in Northwestern Wisconsin.
A search of Kimmes’ vehicle was executed and detectives found three empty and two loaded magazines for a .40 caliber handgun, a holster, a gun case, an empty ammo case, a pill bottle containing a substance that tested positive for meth and a jewelers bag with a substance that tested positive for meth.
Kimmes was convicted of felony failure to report to jail in 2001 and felony possession of methamphetamine in Minnesota in 2015, according to the criminal complaint. He is currently on bail for two separate Douglas County cases. One involves a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and the other alleges one count of felony possession of methamphetamine.
A cash bond of $5,000 was set for Kimmes and he was ordered not to possess any firearms, not to use or possess any controlled substance without a prescription and to have no contact with a witness. He remained in custody at the Douglas County Jail on Tuesday, May 11. He waived his preliminary hearing in Douglas County Circuit Court on April 28.
If convicted, Kimmes faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment on the firearm charge, a Class G felony. His next court appearance is set for June 11.
