A tenant was allegeldy locked inside her apartment to force her to move out.
Thomas J. Bowman, 46, Packwaukee, is charged with false imprisonment and criminal damage to property.
On the morning of March 11, New London Police Officer Ryan Denu was dispatched to a two-family dwelling on Wyman Street in response to a 911 call from the upstairs tenant.
When he walked up to the entrance, Denu found a latch on the door that was held in place by a piece of a broken fishing pole.
Denu removed the rod and made contact with the tenant, who was visibly upset.
“She was crying, her face was red, her hands were shaking and when she spoke her voice cracked,” Denu reported.
The woman told Denu she had been sleeping in her bed when she heard the entrance door open and her landlord yelling at her to move out or he would lock her in the house. She said she heard him close the door and go downstairs.
The woman was home with her boyfriend’s 3-year-old child at the time.
The boyfriend, who works in Waupaca, told Denu he had not paid his rent because after he signed a four-month lease, the city building inspector informed him the house was uninhabitable. He said he expected the landlord to fix the problems.
The boyfriend sent Denu snapshots of text messages allegedly from Bowman, indicating Bowman threatened to come to the boyfriend’s workplace and embarrass him if he did not pay his rent.
According to the criminal complaint, Bowman told Denu he wanted the tenants to move out because they had not paid their rent.
He reportedly said he threatened to lock the woman in her apartment, but denied actually doing it.