Joshua Ziminski fired a shot right before Kyle Rittenhouse had to shoot three men in self-defense. Ziminski has a long rap sheet and was out of bail for his involvement in the riots when he and his wife went on another crime spree that got him 7 felony charges.
Now he is going to prison. A court sentenced Joshua and Kelly Ziminski to 20 months for burglary and robbery with threat of force charges after they pleaded guilty to in May.
The pair were charged with Felony Armed Robbery, Felony Armed Burglary, Felony False Imprisonment, Felony Intimidation of Victim, Felony ID Theft, and Misdemeanor Battery. Independently, Joshua caught a charge of Felony Bail-Jumping for an incident that happened on August 26, 2022.
According to Fox6: The Ziminskis were previously charged in connection to 2020 Kenosha unrest that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. In that case, Joshua was charged with arson and two misdemeanors, and Kelly was charged with two misdemeanors.
According to the criminal complaint, the Ziminskis “participated in protests and riots in downtown Kenosha” after the shooting.
A review of cellphone video showed they tried to “block law enforcement vehicles that were clearing the area” south of 56th Street on Sheridan Road because of a curfew that was imposed at the time.
The complaint indicates Kelly took a video on her phone that showed Joshua “lighting a dumpster on fire.” The video showed Joshua tossing a lit match into the dumpster and then asking people for lighter fluid to help the fire spread.
Then, the video showed him pushing the dumpster onto Sheridan Road as police vehicles moved toward him. Kelly was seen in the video “adding flammable material to the fire to increase the flame.”
According to Kenosha County Eye: On August 26, 2022, at about 2:00 am, a Kenosha Patrol Officer encountered a 54-year-old man, the victim in this case. He told police that two men and a woman he knew as “Bonnie” just robbed him. “Bonnie” is Kelly Ziminski’s porn star name.
He said he met Kelly a week before and she cleaned his home for money. The victim told police that he heard a knock at his door at about 1:20 am that night and it was Kelly.
She asked to use the bathroom and he allowed her in, but then Joshua and a third man followed her in. Joshua then grabbed the man at knife-point and demanded all the man’s money in the home.
The man told Joshua that he didn’t have any money in the home but had some in his bank. Joshua then put the knife to the man’s back and pushed him outside into a full-sized GMC. The man tried to dial 9-1-1 but Joshua took the phone away.
They demanded the man’s PIN number and ATM card. They then proceeded to drive to Lou Perrine’s, Speedway, Kwik Trip, and Chase – all on Washington Rd. Each time, the transaction failed. They ended up back at Lou Perrine’s.
The man then escaped at the gas station even with the men trying to stop him. The victim was able to pick Ziminski out of a photo lineup.
Ziminski and the other man threatened to kill the man and bury him where no one would find him. The Ziminskis told police that the reason for their actions is that the man raped Kelly.