(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. – Just two months after a bizarre domestic disturbance that ended with her being dragged out of her home after an encounter with deputies where she was allegedly naked, reality TV bar owner Nicole Lehman returned to court Thursday on fresh charges—and with a familiar face at her side.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Lehman, 42, appeared before Court Commissioner William Michel, who set her bail at $2,000 cash. She was represented by attorney Natalie Wisco, a high-profile criminal defense lawyer best known for representing Kyle Rittenhouse in his nationally televised trial. Lehman now faces three new charges: disorderly conduct (domestic abuse), obstructing an officer, and misdemeanor bail jumping.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Her longtime live-in boyfriend, James Pruett, 66, who owns the downtown Kenosha tavern Interlude II—a bar featured in a 2025 episode of Bar Rescue—was also criminally charged. Pruett was released after posting a $3,750 cash bond and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on June 18.
According to the latest criminal complaints, deputies were called to the couple’s shared residence in the Village of Somers on the afternoon of May 27 by Lehman’s 12-year-old son, who reported that his mother was intoxicated and “causing issues.” The boy said the house was a mess and that Lehman had thrown objects during a fight with Pruett. When deputies arrived, Pruett was found with a bloody lip and a wet stain on his pants, which he alternately blamed on water and milk.
Pruett told deputies that Lehman had been throwing things and yelling but said the situation calmed down once she knew police had been called. Initially cooperative, Pruett later began obstructing the investigation. When asked to retrieve Lehman from inside the house, he returned and told deputies she was refusing to talk. He eventually claimed she was upstairs sleeping. In reality, Lehman had torn a screen to a rear window, escaped the home, and fled into a wooded area behind the property.
After Lehman’s daughter alerted deputies to her mother’s location using a phone tracker, a K-9 unit was deployed. The dog tracked Lehman’s scent through the woods, across County Highway A, and into Pets Park, where she was found lying face-down in the brush about 200 yards from the home.
Once returned to the house, Lehman made unsolicited statements, claimed she had glass in her upper lip, and ultimately refused further cooperation.
(Kenosha County Sheriff)
The incident also revealed that Lehman was on bond from a prior arrest in March—stemming from a similarly volatile domestic call at the same residence. In that earlier case, Lehman was accused of being highly intoxicated, resisting deputies, and walking nude in front of her children during the response. Court records show her bond conditions prohibited alcohol consumption and violent contact with Pruett—terms she is now accused of violating.
Pruett has also been charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. According to the complaint, he admitted to shoving Lehman during the argument and breaking a lamp. Prosecutors also allege he gave false information to deputies about her whereabouts during the investigation.
Both Lehman and Pruett are due back in court next month.
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4 Responses
Those poor children!
The interlude was always the place to go to meet the lowlife of Kenosha, he must have met her there
i don’t understand these low bail costs. We are much too lenient with criminals
These competing bars will eat interlude alive. Bar businesses are money hungry in the summer time and soon it won’t even matter that interlude just so happened to be on TV. I don’t want to see it happen, but they won’t stay outta the news sooo…