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Man charged with robbing bank enters insanity plea
Hospital examination results due Sept. 21
By DAVID DOEGE
ddoege@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 17, 2006
Waukesha - A man charged with robbing a bank in downtown Waukesha in April and leading police on a chase during an unsuccessful getaway entered a criminal insanity plea Thursday.

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Nicolas Navarrete, whose attorney raised concerns about his client's mental health earlier this summer, was ordered by Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. to undergo an examination by staff at the Wisconsin Resource Center, a state prison hospital near Oshkosh. The results of the examination for the special plea are due in Dreyfus' court Sept. 21.

Navarrete, 42, of Waukesha, entered the plea to two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, armed robbery and fleeing.

Court records indicate that Navarrete, an illegal immigrant, has a second-grade education that he obtained while living in Mexico and that he and his wife have two children, ages 12 and 10.

The charges stem from the April 28 robbery of Chase Bank at 101 W. Broadway, where Navarrete took more than $25,000, according to a criminal complaint.

Navarrete was arrested after leading police on a chase and, at one point, shooting out of his car window at a police officer driving beside him, the complaint says.

After his arrest, Navarrete told police that he got the bank robbery idea from a television show that led him to believe it would be an easy way to solve his money problems, according to the complaint.

Navarrete selected as his target his own bank, where not even his wife's red wig was enough to disguise his identity, according to the complaint. Navarrete was slowed in his getaway, according to the complaint, because he parked a block away from the bank and was still on foot when he was spotted by police.

Navarrete underwent a mental competency examination in May after defense attorney Anthony Rosario said he was concerned about Navarrete's mental health based on remarks from family members and his seeming listlessness about where his case was headed.

Psychologist Kenneth Smail concluded after his examination that Navarrete's case could proceed because he had an adequate understanding of court proceedings and the charges he faces.

From the Aug. 18, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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