Waupaca police find meth in elderly man’s apartment

A 73-year-old man is accused of using a shovel to threaten an officer and smash a glass door.

Daniel T. Summers, Waupaca, is charged with felony counts of threatening an office and possession of methamphetamine, two misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct.

On Tuesday, Feb. 7, Waupaca Police Officer Nicole Hahn responded to a disturbance complaint at an apartment building on the 200 block of North Main Street. She reported seeing an elderly man in front of the building, yelling and swinging a yellow, metal snow shovel.

After Hahn exited her squad car, she reported the man, identified as Summers, “came towards me with the shovel up in the air swinging it like he was going to strike me, and yelled for me to stay away from him.”

According to the criminal complaint, Summers walked down the sidewalk and slammed the shovel into the hood of a silver sports utility vehicle.

When Officer Paul Jensen arrived with the lights on his squad car flashing, Summers became distracted long enough for Hahn to grab the shovel.

Summers fell to the ground and the officers handcuffed him. He reportedly refused to stand and the officers struggled to place him in the back of Jensen’s squad car.

Summers said “something about find the puppies, they are going to die,” the complaint says.

As Hahn entered the building to speak with witnesses, she noticed that the window in the front door had been smashed.

A witness said she was doing laundry when she saw Summers walking up and down the hallway, wearing only one shoe, talking about puppies and appearing agitated.

Later, she saw him upstairs, holding the shovel and the glass in the front door was broken.

When officers went to Summers’ apartment to retrieve his missing shoe and a coat before taking him to jail, they reported finding suspected methamphetamine on a plate on the coffee table.

Judge Raymond Huber ordered Summers to undergo a competency examination.

Summers was released after posting a $1,000 cash bond.