Police: Watch out for suspicious person
By Brandi Makuski
Stevens Point police are asking the public to watch out for a suspicious man who approached a woman’s vehicle while her child was in the backseat.
Lt. Robert Kussow from the Stevens Point Police Department says officers were called tot he 2200 block of Illinois Ave. at 8 p.m. on Aug. 4 when a woman reported “an incoherent male” tried opening the driver’s side door of her vehicle.
The woman, and a man who was with her, asked the suspect to step away from their vehicle. He complied with their request.
Kussow said the incident was reported on social media as “a possible attempted child abduction,” but after further investigation, police do not believe the male suspect, a 41-year-old who is known to police, had no foul intentions.
The woman had already placed the incident, along with a photo of the suspect’s vehicle, on social media, Kussow said.
Police are not releasing the suspect’s name at this time, Kussow said, and he isn’t certain any charges will be filed.
“We need to get a hold of him to find out what his intentions were,” Kussow said by phone on Monday. “He’s got a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. The people at the car, a man and a woman, both said he appeared extremely incoherent and believe he was intoxicated.”
Kussow said the suspect has a history of taking vehicles without owners’ consent, and currently has an active warrant for a probation violation, but said the man had “no violent history whatsoever.”
When the man and woman who talked with the suspect, reported he asked whether the two could help him remember his address and his name, and reportedly made some reference to a North Dakota college football standout, Jake Peterson.
“The reporting party did a great job helping us identify the vehicle the male had exited before approaching them, by taking a photograph of the front license plate,” Kussow’s press release said.
“We do not believe the public is in any danger, but we do want to talk to him,” Kussow said.
Anyone with information should contact the Stevens Point Police Department at (715) 346-1500.
