A jury in Cass County, Wednesday, acquitted (found not guilty) two brothers from rural Griswold on charges that included Going Armed with Intent, following an incident whereby Mark and Steven Funk blocked a family inside their vehicle while searching for a repair shop near Lyman on March 11, 2020. According to court documents, Mark Funk was initially arrested on a charge of Going Armed with Intent, and False Imprisonment. Steven Funk had been cited into court for False Imprisonment However, after taking all the evidence into consideration, Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas end-up charging Mark Funk with four counts of False Imprisonment (in addition to the Going Armed w/Intent charge). Strazdas charged Steven Funk with going armed with intent, by aiding and abetting. The cases were consolidated for the purpose of the trial, and held on April 27 and April 28 in Cass County District Court. Strazdas characterized the case as vigilante justice gone wrong, and that could have gone so much worse.

Details of the incident are as follows in a statement from Strazdas, sent to KJAN News:

On March 11, 2020, local attorney Tad Wonio, his wife Andrea, and two of their children were dropping off Tad’s truck for repairs at Sindt Repair sometime between 8 and 9pm.  Tad was the Lewis City Attorney at the time and had been at the Lewis City Council meeting.  Tad had talked to Corey Sindt and let him know he’d be dropping the truck off late.  Tad assumed it would be simple to google the address of Sindt Repair and didn’t ask Corey where to drop off the truck.  The google listing for Sindt Repair gave two addresses, but the listing on Lyman Rd was listed first so that’s where they went first.  The directions sent them to Lyman Auto.  They didn’t know that Sindt Repair is at Lyman Auto and didn’t see the shop, but since that where the directions took them, Tad left the truck in the used car lot.

The used car lot didn’t have much room for Tad’s truck so Tad and Andrea thought they might not be at the right place and decided to go in Andrea’s car to try the second address google listed.  That took them to Corey Sindt’s residence which is where Sindt Repair used to be located.  They drove by Corey Sindt’s residence and saw a machine shed in the back, which seemed more like a repair shop than the used car lot at Lyman Auto, so they went down the road a little further to find a spot to turn around so they could go back to get Tad’s truck.  They drove by Steven Funk’s residence and ended up turning around in the road as there wasn’t a better place.

Steven Funk and his brother, Mark Funk, have had issues with people breaking in and stealing their property in the past.  Upon seeing the Wonio’s car go by slowly and then come back, Steven Funk thought the vehicle may have been occupied by criminals looking to steal property or possibly anhydrous to make meth and decided he needed to check it out.  Steven didn’t call 911, nor did his wife Amy Funk, who was home at the time.  After Steven left to track down the “suspicious” vehicle, Steven’s wife Amy called Steven’s brother Mark Funk to let him know about the “suspicious” vehicle.  Mark went out in his truck, armed with his shotgun.  When Mark spotted the Wonio’s vehicle, he drove up alongside it, got in front of it and braked.  Andrea tried to go around but Mark swerved to block her from doing so and she was forced to a stop.  At that time Steven had pulled in behind the Wonio’s, effectively blocking them in.  Mark got out of his truck with his loaded shotgun.  Andrea rolled her window down and said “we have our babies in the car, please don’t do this” as she thought they were going to be killed or taken.  Tad thought he was likely going to be killed but got out anyway because he needed to do something to protect his family.  Tad was visibly upset and had a verbal confrontation with the Funks.  Andrea called 911 and Sgt. Shiels arrived within 6 minutes.

Upon arrival Sgt. Shiels determined why the Funks had stopped the Wonio’s vehicle.  He defused the situation and made contact with my office to determine what charges should be filed.  Initially Mark Funk was charged with Going Armed With Intent and False Imprisonment and arrested.  Steven Funk was cited into court for False Imprisonment.  After considering the evidence, I ultimately charged Mark Funk with Going Armed With Intent and four counts of False Imprisonment.  I charged Steven Funk with Going Armed With Intent by aiding and abetting Mark Funk and four counts of False Imprisonment.  The cases were consolidated for the purpose of trial, and the trial took place on 4/27 and 4/28.  The question for the jury came down to whether or not the Funks acted with justification under a mistake of fact that the Wonio’s were engaged in criminal activity.  There was a discrepancy as to how many times the Wonios drove by Steven Funks residence and whether or not Mark Funk had his gun raised, but otherwise the facts were pretty much in agreement.  After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury found both Funks not guilty of all charges.  I do not agree with the verdict, but I knew going into the trial that it would be difficult due to the past criminal activity around the Funks’ properties.  It does concern me that the verdict may give rise to similar scenarios in the future.  Someone easily could have ended up shot.  Fortunately, Tad and Andrea were not armed, but if this happens again, there’s really no saying what could happen.  Lots of people are armed and rightfully so.  If Tad or Andrea had been armed, someone could have easily been killed.