Wausau-area woman charged in alleged road rage beating

A Ringle woman is facing felony charges after an apparent road rage incident last month that left a fellow driver injured.

Terra LaFave, 49, faces charges filed May 24 in Marathon County Circuit Court of strangulation and suffocation, battery and disorderly conduct in connection with the alleged beating. Her husband, Leroy LaFave, 60, is also facing misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct charges. Both suspects are free on bond.

According to a criminal complaint, Marathon County deputies responded at about 9:30 p.m. May 22 to a report of a fight in progress near the intersection of Clubhouse Road and River Road in Ringle where they discovered a 26-year-old woman on the ground whose face was bloody and eyes were swelling. Blood was seen on the ground near the woman and her vehicle, police said.

The alleged victim told police she passed a driver who was traveling under the speed limit and the driver then began flashing high beams at her and activating her turn signals. The woman stopped at the stop sign and got out of her car to see why the driver was flashing her.

Police say the driver, identified as Terra LaFave, got out of her own vehicle and began strangling the woman, who could not breathe for about 30 to 45 seconds. Ms. LaFave allegedly threw the woman to the ground after which her husband began kicking the woman. Both Mr. and Ms. LaFave are accused of repeatedly punching the woman in the face.

A witness told police he stopped at the scene after hearing screaming and saw the fight in progress, and said he saw Mr. LaFave on top of the alleged victim, punching her in the ribs. The witness told Mr. and Ms. LaFave he had a gun, in an effort to stop the assault.

In an interview with police, Ms. LaFave allegedly admitted that she “pushed” the woman by the throat but said she would have been better of “beating the shit out of her.” She denied strangling the woman and said if she had “this would have been done,” according to court filings.

Mr. LaFave said he was acting in defense of his wife, police said.

Ms. LaFave was freed May 24 after posting a $1,000 cash bond. During a June 3 preliminary hearing, Court Commissioner Douglas Baumman ordered her bound over for arraignment and trial. Ms. LaFave pleaded not guilty.

Mr. LaFave was released on a signature bond and has a pretrial conference set for July 8.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.