Police are looking for a 62-year-old man who allegedly threatened to blow up a Kwik Trip.
Jerome Drapes, Iola, is charged with making terrorist threats and disorderly conduct.
Judge Philip Kirk issued a warrant for his arrest on Thursday, June 16.
On June 2, Waupaca Police Officer Diana Flatoff was dispatched to the Kwik Trip on Fulton Street after a clerk called 911 and reported Drapes threatened to shoot up the gas pumps.
Flatoff met with the clerk, who said Drapes came into the store about 2:15 p.m. and spoke with a manager about overdraft charges he had received on some checks he wrote to Kwik Trip and to other area businesses.
The manager called the company’s communications center and handed the phone to Drapes so he could speak with them.
According to the criminal complaint, Drapes became angry, threw the phone across the cashier counter and left the store.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Drapes allegedly called the store and asked to speak with the supervisor. The clerk said the manager was not there.
The clerk told police Drapes then asked if he remembered the scars on his face and said they were caused by a 9mm gun. He then allegedly threatened to blow up the Kwik Trip by shooting the gas pumps and said he did not care if he died.
Another clerk told police the call caused her to have a panic attack. She said she was afraid for her life, then started to cry.
After interviewing the clerks, officers went to several area addresses, but were unable to locate Drapes.
Although this is his first felony case, Drapes has a prior record of similar threatening incidents.
On Dec. 3, 2014, Drapes came into the Book Cellar in downtown Waupaca. He was described as angry and upset because someone apparently parked too close to his van. He began intimidating customers and staff.
When the store’s owner attempted to speak calmly with Drapes, he responded by swearing and pounding on the glass counters. Drapes bought a CD, then left as agitated as when he arrived.
The following day, Drapes allegedly called the Book Cellar and asked about returning a CD that he had purchased the prior day. When an employee advised Drapes of the store’s return policy, Drapes responded by threatening him and the store’s owner, the criminal complaint says.
The employee told police, “Drapes stated that we better steer clear of him because he would harm us if he saw either of us.”
Drapes was subsequently convicted of disorderly conduct and placed on one year probation. His probation was extended for one more year on Feb. 16 after he failed to pay his court costs and fine.
On Feb. 25, 2014, Drapes was charged with disorderly conduct with a weapon and criminal trespass. He was accused of going into another tenant’s apartment in the Iola building where he lived. The other tenant said Drapes had a hatchet at the time.
On June 3, 2014, Drapes entered into a one-year deferred prosecution agreement with the conditions that he comply with mental health treatment and not break the law.
On April 1, 2015, the court canceled the deferred prosecution and placed Drapes on one year of probation.