Fritz Busch
SLEEPY EYE – A 37-year-old Sleepy Eye man accused of holding a large knife near police in his residence Wednesday and burglarizing Ross Park Apartments the next morning, faces six felony charges in two criminal cases filed in Brown County District Court Friday.
According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police Officer Peter McGarry took a phone call at about 9 p.m. Wednesday from the Mathiowetz Body Shop owner at Main Street West and 7th Avenue. The caller said he was leaving the shop when he was approached by a man on foot who was acting very strangely.
Peterson said he was locked outside the house, but got inside and invited police inside. Peterson threw a hammer into a living room near the officers that bounced off a table. Peterson then walked toward McGarry while holding a knife about 6 inches long, in front of his face.
McGarry took a few steps backwards and began to pull out his service weapon just before Peterson put the knife down, on a table.
Also according to court documents, the officers left the house. Officer McGarry called Sleepy Eye Police Chief Matt Andres and told him what happened. Andres recommended Peterson be arrested for the knife incident. Officer McGarry called Brown County Deputy Derek Shaw and asked him to assist with the arrest. Shaw agreed and arrived with two other deputies. Officers knocked on Peterson’s door many times and got no answer, then left.
On Thursday, Andres received a phone call about an unknown male at Ross Park Apartments early in the morning that damaged property and created other issues, according to the court documents. The caller told Andres that a man entered the vestibule entrance with a baseball bat at about 4:58 a.m. and left the bat in the vestibule waiting for the front door to open automatically at 5 a.m. The witness said Peterson knocked on many apartment doors.
Andres arrested Peterson at about 7:05 a.m. at Hardee’s.
Peterson was charged with two counts of felony second-degree burglary, two counts of felony third-degree burglary, misdemeanor fourth-degree damage to property, theft and disorderly conduct in the first case filed against him. Charges filed in a second case include felony second-degree assault-dangerous weapon, felony threats of violence-reckless disregard risk and misdemeanor fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct.