Deputies ended a one-hour standoff outside an Ogdensburg home by leaving the scene, then returning later to arrest the suspect.
No shots were fired and nobody was injured.
Eric L. Amerson, 35, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery of an elderly person, two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of pointing a firearm at another person as acts of domestic abuse.
Shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, Amerson’s 69-year-old father called 911 and reported that Amerson had been drinking and was throwing things around the house. He said Amerson had hit both of his parents.
The father also told dispatch that Amerson had pointed a rifle at him and pushed it into his back so hard that it left a mark.
The father said he had gone across the street to call for help, while Amerson’s mother remained in the house.
According to the criminal complaint, police records had flagged Amerson as having guns and “suicide by cop.”
Waupaca County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Zeamer was the first officer at the scene. He spoke with the father, who said Amerson was out of control and was damaging the house. He said he had taken the rifle away from Amerson, but there was still a shotgun in the house.
Prior to the officers arriving, Amerson allegedly threw himself into a wall and threatened to accuse his father of punching him.
Officers attempted to reach Amerson by phone. The first two times they called, the officers could hear the phone ring. They could not hear it ring the third time they tried to call.
Deputy Dan Lewinski used the PA speaker on his squad car to call Amerson out of the house.
At 9:40 p.m., Amerson’s mother walked out of the house and spoke to the officers.
She said Amerson became angry because he wanted his parents to pick up a dead deer. They said no because they had already picked one up and registered it through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The mother told the officers that Amerson had been sitting on a chair, calling her obscene names, when she left the house. She said he did not have a gun.
Officers could see Amerson inside the house. Since the parents would be staying somewhere else that night, the deputies decided not to arrest Amerson immediately, but to wait until he became sober.
Amerson was released from custody on Jan. 14 on a $5,000 signature bond. Conditions of his bond include that he maintain absolute sobriety, possess no illegal drugs, have no abusive contact with his parents, take only prescribed medications and that all weapons be removed from his home prior to his release.