SWAT responds to two homes on Ware, State streets
By Robert Cloud
Bad information on a 911 call resulted in a SWAT raid at a home on the 800 block of Ware Street at 2:45 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11.
The 911 caller was screaming and saying that there were “two dead kids” in the house, possibly from an overdose.
While officers were en route to the scene, they were told there was an armed person in the house and shots may have been fired.
According to Waupaca Police Chief Brian Hoelzel, “There was never a gun involved and nobody ever shot a weapon. But we didn’t know that until Saturday.”
Criminal charges have been filed as a result of the incident.
Austin M. Krisel, 23, Green Bay, is charged with felony child abuse–recklessly causing great harm and obstructing an officer.
Police respond
In response to the perceived threat on Aug. 11, Waupaca police shut down Ware Street, the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office sent a drone and eventually sent the SWAT team. Gold Cross Ambulance was also dispatched and set up a staging area.
Waupaca Police Officer Kyle Holden ordered everyone to exit the house.
“A short time later, an adult male exited the upper apartment and stood at the top of the stairway. The male would not comply with our commands at first and told us to shoot him at one point,” the complaint says. “He did finally comply and he was ordered down the stairs to our location.”
The man on the stairs was identified as Andrew Winser, who lives in the upstairs apartment at the Ware Street address. Winser is a known drug offender with prior methamphetamine convictions.
Winser has not been charged in this incident.
When the SWAT team cleared the apartment, they found a 15-year-old boy lying on the floor in the hallway, near the doorway to the living room.
The teen “was wet from head to toe and he had labored breathing,” the complaint says.
Police administered Narcan prior to the arrival of paramedics.
Waupaca Police Officer Matthew Batte reported the bathtub was overflowing onto the floor, about 10 feet from where the teen was lying.
After Gold Cross paramedics arrived, they transported the teen to ThedaCare Waupaca.
A witness told investigators she saw Krisel “hosing down” the boy and two other teens lying on the floor.
She told her friend to call 911, then said Krisel pushed her and her friend out the apartment door.
She reportedly told police that Krisel had a gun.
SWAT responds to State Street
Hoelzel told the Waupaca County Post that Krisel called 911 twice after leaving the house on Ware Street.
“We believed this guy was running around in the community with a gun,” Hoelzel said.
Communications officers traced the GPS coordinates of his cellphone to an address in the 500 block of South State Street.
“Officers believed he was inside the house,” Hoelzel said.
The State Street resident was terrified when she looked out the window and saw the SWAT team outside her home, Hoelzel said.
She came outside the house and officers went in to see if Krisel was there.
“The cellphone pinged twice at her location,” Hoelzel said. “He was there, but he wasn’t inside her house.”
Krisel arrested
Waupaca County deputies subsequently found Krisel in a vehicle on County Trunk E near Hodgett Court just south of Waupaca and took him into custody.
Detective Sgt. Bret Rodenz and Officer Tom Grant, with the Waupaca Police Department, questioned Krisel at the jail.
He told them he had a Gatorade bottle filled with vodka and shared it with others, including the victim, at Hidden Park.
A witness said Krisel dared the teen to chug it, which he did until it was half gone, according to the complaint.
Krisel reportedly said the victim became extremely drunk and he tried to sober him up by placing him in the shower.
While he was putting the victim into the shower, three females came to the apartment and he chased them down the stairs and threatened to get a firearm if they didn’t leave, he said.
Alcohol poisoning
The victim’s medical records indicate that he suffered from alcohol poisoning. The complaint quotes a critical care note saying, “Patient demonstrates life-threatening findings with the following organ systems at risk: cardiac, neurologic, metabolic/endocrine, psychiatric, respiratory, and toxic ingestion or exposure.”
Krisel remains in custody on a $1,500 cash bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 25.