**********REWARD**************
STILL WANTED AFTER FLEEING FROM COURT BEFORE SENTENCING POSSIBLY IN WISCONSIN OR COLORADO
JULY 19, 2023
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX- Police are searching for a repeat offender who was convicted of Intoxication Manslaughter with a Vehicle, but was free on bond and disappeared during his trial in the 9th District Court in Conroe last month. Matthew John Flaskrud, 46, of Magnolia had managed to secure his release on a bond of $150K. He was wearing an ankle monitor during that time, and attended the first two days of his June jury trial before Judge Phil Grant. However, by the start of court on the trial’s third day, Flaskrud was nowhere to be found and his ankle monitor had been removed.
The case stems from a March 2, 2022 crash in which Flaskrud is accused of being so intoxicated that he failed to slow his motorcycle and properly navigate a turn into a driveway, resulting in his striking another motorcycle that was turning into the driveway. The collision caused both bikes to crash, but the operator of the other bike, 36-year-old Derrick Hintzman, died as a result of his injuries. As is so often the case in crashes involving intoxication, the accused was not critically injured. His BAC registered over twice the legal limit. Investigators reviewed security video from a business that allegedly showed how Flaskrud was responsible for the crash and contradicted his statement regarding the crash. He was subsequently charged with Intoxication Manslaughter with a Vehicle.
On the first two days of the trial, prosecutors presented their case and witnesses. On the third day, when Flaskrud’s attorney was to begin presenting his case, the defendant was absent. Prosecutors learned his ankle monitor was removed, and nobody seemed to know Flaskrud’s whereabouts.
Then, something else unusual happened. Judge Grant continued the trial without Flaskrud. Assistant District Attorney Brittany Hansford, Chief Vehicular Crimes Prosecutor for Montgomery County, said the law allowed the trial to continue in Flaskrud’s absence because the available information indicated the defendant voluntarily fled. Everyone technically necessary for the trial to legally continue was present.
The jury ultimately returned a guilty verdict. However, Hansford said the only part of the trial that cannot legally occur in the absence of the defendant is the formal sentencing. That will occur if, or when Flaskrud is recaptured or surrenders to authorities. His attorney was asking for a 25 year sentence, while the prosecution was seeking 40 years.
Hansford said the most troubling aspect of the strange trial for her was the lack of closure for the victim’s family. She said Derrick Hintzman’s mother was in court, suffering through every moment of the trial, but not Flaskrud. The grieving mother relived the last moments of her son’s life, but not the man who allegedly took it. Although the jury returned a guilty verdict, the victim’s mother has been denied the consolation of knowing Flaskrud is being punished.
Arguably, Flaskrud’s freedom should be of concern to all law-abiding citizens. He has a lengthy and shocking list of prior charges, dating back to the 1990’s when he lived in Wisconsin, with prior offenses including, but not limited to Sexual Assault, Felony Child Abuse, Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, and more. Public records from Wisconsin show multiple charges not listed among his convictions, where it appears plea agreements were reached in exchange for some charges being dismissed.
A United States Court of Appeals decision, dated May 31, 2013, states the following:
“Matthew Flaskrud raped a woman in front of her two children and in 2004 was convicted of third-degree sexual assault in Wisconsin. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison to be followed by a term of extended supervision. Because of his conviction he also was required to register as a sex offender until 2029.”
“After serving his prison sentence, Flaskrud was released on supervision but reimprisoned in April 2010 for violating terms of supervision by, among other things, punching his son and ignoring a restraining order. Flaskrud was again released on extended supervision in November 2010, but in July 2011 he was arrested and charged with battery after punching a man in a bar.”
“He fled to Colorado without updating his sex-offender registration. Federal authorities then charged Flaskrud with traveling in interstate commerce and not updating his SORNA registration. Meanwhile, Wisconsin authorities dismissed the battery charge after Flaskrud was returned from Colorado, but his supervision again was revoked.”
Flaskrud is now a fugitive from justice, again convicted of a serious crime, but having vanished to avoid justice being served. Flaskrud is known to have lived in Texas, Wisconsin, and Colorado.
Anyone with information regarding Matthew Flaskrud’s whereabouts should contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-312-STOP
Crime Stoppers Pays Rewards for Anonymous information.
06/20/24
- Updated
CHIPPEWA FALLS — A former Chippewa Falls man previously convicted of two different sex assaults has allegedly failed to comply with Wisconsin’s sex offender registry laws, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Matthew J. Flaskrud, 47, was charged Thursday with one count of sex offender registry violation. A specialist with the state’s Department of Corrections prepared the non-compliance report in January. The specialist has been unable to reach Flaskrud by mail, email, phone or other means of communication. Judge Benjamin Lane issued the warrant for Flaskrud’s arrest.
Flaskrud’s father informed the agent that “his son’s whereabouts are currently unknown as he is facing a prison sentence in Texas and has a warrant for his arrest. He believes that he is on the run.”
In July 2011, Flaskrud slipped away from a Chippewa County Sheriff’s Department deputy at a hospital while faking health problems. He was apprehended in October 2011 in Colorado and brought back to the Chippewa County Jail. He was charged at the time with a sex offender violation, but that was later dismissed. He lived at 13862 44th Ave. in Chippewa Falls at the time.
According to the criminal complaint, Flaskrud was drinking alcohol at a tavern in Eau Claire in June 2011, a violation of the conditions of his probation. A sheriff’s deputy picked up Flaskrud on July 6, 2011.
“While en-route to the jail, Flaskrud started complaining of chest pains and asked to be taken to the hospital,” the complaint states.
Once at the hospital, Flaskrud escaped from the deputy.
Flaskrud was sentenced to 2½ years in prison in 2004 after a jury found him guilty of third-degree sexual assault for forcing a 26-year-old woman to have sex with him in front of her two young children, who witnessed the assault. Flaskrud also was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault in 1995 for having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl, and was ordered to serve nine months in jail.
