MONROE - A New Glarus man faces criminal charges in Green County Circuit Court after he reportedly held a SWAT team in standoff outside his rural New Glarus home for more than five hours last Thursday, July 25.
Kurt Douglas Duerst, 50, is charged with felony bail jumping and misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.
Deputies were requested to check his welfare just after 9 a.m. Thursday, after he called staff at Mendota Mental Health Facility in Madison from his home on Argue Road and said he had a loaded gun, was pointing it at people and "going for the jugular," according to court records.
"He's had some struggles in recent months," Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said. "He felt like he wanted to take this out on them."
Deputies blocked traffic and called in a SWAT team, but Duerst ignored them for hours and refused to come out, Skatrud said. The SWAT team eventually forced entry into the home later that afternoon and arrested Duerst.
No gun was located in the home, and officers found no evidence that Duerst had physically threatened anyone with a gun or hurt himself or others, Skatrud said.
Duerst allegedly had alcohol on his breath and empty liquor bottles in his home, in violation of a bond condition that he not drink.
In court Monday, July 29, his cash bond was set at $2,000, again with the condition that he not drink. His preliminary hearing is Aug. 1.
- Katjusa Cisar
Kurt Douglas Duerst, 50, is charged with felony bail jumping and misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.
Deputies were requested to check his welfare just after 9 a.m. Thursday, after he called staff at Mendota Mental Health Facility in Madison from his home on Argue Road and said he had a loaded gun, was pointing it at people and "going for the jugular," according to court records.
"He's had some struggles in recent months," Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said. "He felt like he wanted to take this out on them."
Deputies blocked traffic and called in a SWAT team, but Duerst ignored them for hours and refused to come out, Skatrud said. The SWAT team eventually forced entry into the home later that afternoon and arrested Duerst.
No gun was located in the home, and officers found no evidence that Duerst had physically threatened anyone with a gun or hurt himself or others, Skatrud said.
Duerst allegedly had alcohol on his breath and empty liquor bottles in his home, in violation of a bond condition that he not drink.
In court Monday, July 29, his cash bond was set at $2,000, again with the condition that he not drink. His preliminary hearing is Aug. 1.
- Katjusa Cisar