A two-year fight over cars parking in front of driveways and a fire hydrant near an Oconomowoc home has ended with criminal charges, after prosecutors say an email about pellet guns crossed the line from complaint to threat. Peter Holmes, who lives near Silver Lake Intermediate School, is now charged with making a terrorist threat following a message he allegedly sent to the district superintendent this week.
A Years-Long Parking Dispute Boils Over
Holmes told WISN that parents picking up children near his Oconomowoc home have repeatedly parked illegally, blocking driveways and even a fire hydrant, for more than two years. “It's a consistent problem that I've had for over two years,” he said. He said he had tried working through official channels well before things escalated, telling the station, “I've taken it up with the school board as well as the principal and the police department.”
The frustration reportedly boiled over into a physical confrontation with at least one parent's vehicle. Holmes acknowledged approaching a parent's car and admitted to kicking it, saying simply, “I kicked her car.” He told the station that citations were issued to both parties following that incident: “There were citations issues to both parties.”
The Email That Led to Charges
According to the criminal complaint against him, Holmes emailed the school superintendent on Monday, attaching a photo of a woman in an SUV near his home along with a message referencing pellet guns. The complaint quotes the email as saying, “Pellet guns have a weird way of going off if you catch my drift.” Per the complaint, the superintendent interpreted that message as a threat, and Waukesha County prosecutors subsequently charged Holmes with making a terrorist threat and filed a criminal complaint against him. An arrest warrant has also been issued for Holmes, the station reported.
Holmes, however, denied sending that specific email when asked by WISN. “I don't recall sending that,” he said, and separately stated he did not recall sending the email described in the complaint. When asked whether he was aware of the arrest warrant, Holmes had no further comment, according to the report. He did share other emails with the station that he said he had sent to Oconomowoc police and the school district, which included photos of vehicles he believed were illegally parked along his street.
Police Watched but Didn't Step In
The station reported that police officers had been monitoring after-school traffic in Holmes' neighborhood in response to the ongoing complaints, but that no officers ever approached him or spoke to him during that monitoring. That detail leaves open why the parking dispute continued unresolved for so long even as law enforcement was reportedly aware of it near the school.
The dynamic mirrors a case out of Tennessee last month, where Murfreesboro police say 70-year-old James Wideman allegedly threatened to sit in his driveway with a gun after parents in a school pickup line blocked it, according to WSMV. Wideman was arrested and charged with harassment by School Resource Officers and booked into the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center on a $2,000 bond, the outlet reported. In that case, the district's School Safety Division supervisors asked parents not to block private driveways or intersections during drop-off and pickup.
Wisconsin's statute on bomb scares, listed under section 947.015, is referenced in state law tied to threats involving explosive or dangerous devices, according to the Wisconsin Legislature, though the full elements of the specific charge against Holmes were not detailed in available records. It remains unclear what happens next in the case, including whether Holmes has been taken into custody since the warrant was issued.
