(Atlantic) A jury found two rural Griswold brothers, Mark and Steven Funk, NOT guilty after blocking a family inside their vehicle while searching for a repair shop near Lyman on March 11, 2020.
According to court records, initially, Mark Funk was arrested and charged with Going Armed with Intent and False Imprisonment. Steven Funk was cited in court for False Imprisonment. After considering the evidence, Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas ultimately charged Mark Funk with Going Armed with Intent and four counts of False Imprisonment. Strazdas charged Steven Funk with Going Armed with Intent by aiding and abetting. The cases were consolidated for the purpose of the trial, held on April 27 and April 28 in Cass County District Court.
Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas characterized the case as vigilante justice gone wrong, which really could have gone much worse. Strazdas provided KSOM/KS05 News with the following details that occurred on the night of 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 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 pm. 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’s 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 listed on Google. 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 to 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 Wonio’s car drive by slowly and then come back, Steven Funk thought the vehicle might 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 Wonio’s vehicle, he drove up alongside it and braked in front of it. 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 Cass County Deputy Sgt. Shiels arrived within six 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. T
During the trial, the question for the jury came down to whether or not the Funks acted with justification under a mistake of the fact that the Wonio’s were engaged in criminal activity. There was a discrepancy as to how many times the Wonios drove by Steven Funk’s 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,” said Strazdas. “ It does concern me that the verdict may give rise to similar scenarios in the future. Someone easily could have been shot.
Fortunately, Tad and Andrea were not armed, but if this happens again, there’s really no saying what could happen,” stated Strazdas. ” Lots of people are armed, and rightfully so. If Tad or Andrea had been armed, someone could have easily killed someone.”
