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Tourist charged with felony OWI

Police say a man was drunk and disorderly with his children present.

Chad D. Gigl, 30, Menasha, is charged in Waupaca County with a second drunken driving offense while children were in the vehicle, threatening a witness, resisting an officer and two counts of disorderly conduct.

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 18, a 911 caller reported an intoxicated man was leaving Outdoor Adventures Paintball, located on county Trunk U in rural Fremont.

The caller said the car was a white Pontiac and the driver’s name, Chad Gigl. He also reported there were two children in the car.

Deputy Andrew Thorpe began patrolling County Trunk U, Desert Road and U.S. Highway 10, searching for Gigl’s car.

Then Outdoor Adventures called the sheriff’s office again and reported Gigl had returned, then left.

Thorpe drove to the business to meet with the business owner, who said Gigl had been highly intoxicated and stumbled to his car. He said he told Gigl to stay there rather than drive away with his children, but Gigl left anyway.

While Thorpe was driving out of the paintball field, he encountered Gigl’s car in the driveway. The Pontiac had damage to the front bumper and chunks of grass lodged in the grille, according to the criminal complaint.

Thorpe reported smelling a strong odor of beer and that Gigl had glassy, bloodshot eyes.

The deputy handcuffed Gigl and placed him in the back of his squad car. When he went to check on the children, Gigl allegedly began shouting, “Don’t say anything no matter what.”

Thorpe arranged for Gigl’s wife to come to Fremont and pick up the two boys, ages 9 and 12.

According to Thorpe’s report, “Chad Gigl began to bang on the prisoner partition with his head. I explained to him that he would be going to Waupaca for a blood draw. Chad Gigl said, ‘Ain’t no blood draw going to happen. We’re going to war.’ He began to shout profanities, bark like a dog and bang on the prisoner partition. He said, ‘Hey Thorpe, I hope you’re ready to fight.’”

On the drive to ThedaCare Medical Center in Waupaca, Gigl made threatening comments about the deputy’s wife, the complaint says.

Four other officers went to the hospital to assist with the blood draw.

“He would not allow the nurse to apply the tourniquet to his arm for the blood draw,” Thorpe reported. “We moved him to a face down position to prevent him from pulling away.”

Results from the blood test indicated Gigl had a .21 blood-alcohol level.

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