Eight months later, threat made at Sentry remains under investigation
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By Brandi Makuski
Stevens Point police say the investigation into a threat made at Sentry Insurance last year is still active.
The threat forced Sentry to close its headquarters, 1800 North Point Dr., to most of its 1,700 employees following the Sept. 20, 2023 threat. Employees worked from home for about a week, returning to the office with “enhanced security improvements” implemented throughout the building.
Since last September, the Metro Wire has attempted to obtain the incident report via open records request weekly. Each time, most recently on May 23, Stevens Point police say because it’s still an ongoing investigation, the report is not yet available.
When asked for context earlier this year, Police Chief Bob Kussow said an outside agency was assisting with the investigation, but declined to provide further details on the record, citing the ongoing investigation. He did say there was no danger to the public.
Carolyn Schamberger, director of corporate communications and content for Sentry, told the Metro Wire last year that the threat was written on a bathroom stall door but did not disclose the message.
On May 23, Schamberger said there was no new information to share.
Sources outside of SPPD but with close ties to the case say that the suspect was an employee of a contracted company working in the building who was unhappy about cleaning a bathroom.
That suspect is no longer employed with the company and has been banned from the building, Schamberger said.
Portage Co. District Attorney Cass Cousins said the statute of limitations for a misdemeanor is three years and six years for a felony, and the clock starts ticking from the original offense date.
“This case remains under investigation. SPPD is waiting on some fairly specialized testing before deciding whether to refer charges to my office for review and potential prosecution,” Cousins said.
