Daniel R. Diedrich, 17, Waupaca, is charged with burglary, criminal damage to property and two counts of misdemeanor theft.
He is accused of causing more than $10,000 in damages to a home owned by Paul Mayou, a Waupaca city alderman and business owner.
On the morning of Nov. 2, Waupaca Police Officer Diana Flatoff was dispatched to the 300 block of South Division Street, where she met with the owners, Paul and Paulette Mayou.
Outside of the home, the officer observed numerous windows which had been completely smashed. There were beer cans on the lawn, as well as broken glass.
Mayou told Flatoff that whoever had entered the house had turned on the gas to the kitchen stove and left it running, unlit.
Inside, the bay windows in the living room were smashed out. A decorative window panel in the front door was broken. Plaster had been knocked from the walls, and a side door had been kicked in.
The stairway bannister had been torn apart and pieces of it scattered throughout the house. Ceiling lights were damaged, and there were beer cans strewn about. Many of the beer cans appeared to have exploded open when thrown against the walls or through the windows. The house reeked of beer.
Flatoff also reported finding vomit and beer on the kitchen floor.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 1, Sgt. Mario Graceffa had responded to several complaints regarding garbage cans being knocked over on School Street, a block from where the vandalism occurred.
There were also reports of items missing from cars parked in the area.
On Nov. 2, a resident of the 700 block of Demarest Street reported someone entered her car overnight and stole her wallet and a pair of sunglasses. A neighbor found the wallet across the street.
A Redline Nebo flashlight and a pair of yellow work gloves were reported stolen from a vehicle parked on the 800 block of Eighth Street. The work gloves were found near the missing wallet on Demarest Street.
Graceffa spoke with teens at the Waupaca Recreation Center and asked if they knew who had been out the previous night, tipping over garbage cans and “car shopping.”
One of the teens said Diedrich had been bragging about knocking over the cans, then watching the cops pick up the garbage.
According to the criminal complaint, Graceffa then spoke with Diedrich, who said he and another teen had gone out walking around Waupaca with two cases of beer, knocking over garbage cans and going through unlocked vehicles.
He reportedly said he and the juvenile had thrown the cans at the house, some of them had gone through the windows, while some had exploded outside.
Flatoff interviewed the juvenile, who denied being with Diedrich that night.
According to the criminal complaint, Flatoff recovered the missing flashlight from the juvenile’s backpack.