PEOGA — Officers responding to a shots-fired call on Sweetwater Trail ended up arresting a resident on stalking and criminal trespass charges.
Joshua D. Rice, 37, has been charged with four counts of trespassing, two counts of stalking and one count of resisting law enforcement since March 1. All of the incidents but one occurred between April 11 and 13.
The afternoon of April 13, a neighbor called police to report Rice trespassing. Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Bowling pulled up to the property and saw a man near the mailbox, walking away. A woman came running from the house, yelling, “Thief,” a police report said.
Rice took off running toward the back of the next house with Bowling chasing him. Bowling yelled for him to stop or he would use his Taser, the report said. Rice slowed as the officer gained on him and stopped around the side of the house, and Bowling cuffed him, the report said. The officer said he found two knives in his pockets.
The woman said she saw him up near her vehicles and garage, then saw him walking with what she thought was an object in his arms. Rice was charged with felony stalking, and misdemeanor trespassing and resisting law enforcement in that case April 18.
On April 14, the day after that incident, police received two reports of shots fired in the 8300 block of Sweetwater Trail. One caller reported seeing Rice back his vehicle out of the garage and drive through his yard to a separate garage, then hearing two people arguing and a single gunshot. Then, Rice’s vehicle left the property, the neighbor told police.
The other caller told police that Rice had been on her property, but she hadn’t heard a gunshot. She said she was turning off the porch light when she saw Rice standing at the edge of her porch. She said his pants were “saggy and below his butt” and that his hand was inside them, the police report said. She said she started screaming at him and chased after him, but she did not shoot at him; however, she had her gun with her.
One of the callers called police back about 20 minutes later to say that Rice had returned home. Police knocked on the door and windows and announced themselves for about 15 minutes, but Rice would not come to the door, the police report said. One officer shined his flashlight into a window and saw a man standing in the corner of the dining room as if to hide himself, the police report said. He knocked on the door, and Rice came outside at the officer’s command, the report said.
The officer saw a large knife sticking out of his pocket, and another was found on him after he was detained and placed in a chair, the report said. When asked why he didn’t answer the door, Rice told officers that he didn’t hear them knocking or announcing themselves; he just heard loud banging, the report said.
Rice told them he had heard the gunshot and thought it might have hit his vehicle, but officers could find no bullet holes in it.
When asked why he was at his neighbor’s porch, Rice would not answer the question, the report said. He was charged April 16 with felony stalking and misdemeanor trespass in that case.
Another charge of trespassing was filed April 18, but no report was available at press time on what led to it.
