Former state prisoner faces felony charge

Joshua R. Christensen, 30, Waupaca, is charged with felony strangulation and disorderly conduct as acts of domestic abuse.

At 3:12 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13, Waupaca Police Officer Nick Booth was dispatched to Water Street.

Booth spoke with Waupaca County Deputies Bryan Strobusch and James Santiago. They were looking for Christensen because there was a warrant for his arrest.
A woman who lived there told Booth that Christensen had choked her that morning.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman had kicked Christensen out of her house.

However, he had shown up the day before and she allowed him to stay one night.

She said she returned home at 6:15 a.m. after working the third shift.

She found the house trashed, but nothing seemed broken.

The woman said she saw Christensen standing in the kitchen in the dark.

Due to his apparent paranoid behavior, she believed he was high on meth.

The woman had installed cameras in her home and her daughter, who lives in Colorado, has remote access to the cameras.

Booth viewed video clips and reported seeing and hearing the victim screaming for help.

Christensen allegedly choked the woman multiple times in the past, hit her head hard enough to rupture her eardrums and make her ears bleed and cause concussions.

The woman said she had gone to the emergency room several times and fabricated stories about how her injuries occurred.

Christensen is currently in custody on a $1,000 cash bond.

On Feb. 12, 2018, Christensen was sentenced to four years in prison for possession of heroin with 275 days credit for the time he spent in custody on a cash bond. Christensen was released from prison on Jan. 17, 2020.

Previously, Christensen was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault, disorderly conduct with a weapon, abusing a hazardous substance and bail jumping.