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Unwelcome visitor

Johnson

Family finds a stranger in their home, stolen car in their yard.

Matthew T. Johnson, 28, Manawa, is charged with taking a vehicle without consent, criminal trespass of a dwelling and disorderly conduct.

Shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, Waupaca County Sheriff’s Deputy Patrick Gorchals was dispatched to Shady Lane Road in the town of Union.

When he arrived, Gorchals saw three people standing in the front yard. They motioned him to continue toward the end of the driveway, where Gorchals could see headlights.

Gorchals found a green Ford F150 at the edge of the driveway. The truck was not running, but the horn was blaring because the driver was slumped over the wheel and leaning against the horn.

Gorchals ordered the man, identified as Johnson, out of the truck and escorted him to the back of the squad car. Johnson was allegedly wearing only a shirt and underwear.

A male resident of the house told Gorchals the sound of a slamming door woke up the family. When he went to see what was happening, he found Johnson in his house,

According to the criminal complaint, when he asked Johnson what he was doing in his house, Johnson said he lived there.

The homeowner told him to get out and Johnson allegedly became belligerent, went outside to his truck and tried to leave, but it became stuck in the driveway.

Shortly after 10 a.m. that same day, Gorchals responded to a vehicle theft complaint on Thoma Road in the town of Lebanon.

The Thoma Road resident said someone drove a white 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe into a ditch near their home and their green 2000 Ford F150 was missing.

Gorchals went to the nearby T-intersection of Thoma and Fitzgerald roads where he found the white Tahoe.

It appeared the driver had failed to stop at the Thoma Road stop sign, crossed Fitzgerald Road and gone into a marshy field.

The Tahoe was registered to Johnson, the complaint says.

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