Man arrested in connection with Waupun bomb threats

WAUPUN (WITI) -- Officials in Waupun are breathing a sigh of relief after police say they have a man in custody in connection with several bomb threats that have plagued the city since Sunday.

While the evidence made him a person of interest, it was another part of his criminal past that made it easier for the police to arrest him.

"It's absolute relief because now you know that it's just a threat. We're back to our regular attendance rate -- so our parents feel relief and our kids are feeling relief. Now it's just what the heck happened kind of discussion," Waupun Junior and Senior High School Principal Jeff Finstad said.

On Wednesday, November 13th, attendance was less than 50 percent because of a bomb threat to the school.

By Thursday, a man was in the Dodge County Jail in connection with that threat and others.

Deputy Chief Scott Louden with the Waupun Police Department says the 31-year-old Markesan man was arrested on Wednesday night.

"I'm pretty satisfied that he's not getting out of jail -- that the bond bail will be set too high. He knew what he did. He just didn't want to admit it. And finally, at the end, we were able to get him to admit it," Louden said.

Police say the man was a person of interest for a couple days, but the fact that he was a sex offender in violation sped up the process.

"That played into us being able to arrest him," Louden said.

That bit of information was figured out by the Waupun Junior and Senior High School's Athletic Director earlier this year, when the suspect officiated athletic events.

"Someone saw him reffing and said 'you might want to look into his background.' He went right to the police department," Finstad said.

Randy Hage, who owns the Piggly Wiggly that also received a bomb threat says he's happy a suspect has been arrested.

"Everything's back to normal. We're going to get ready for Thanksgiving now and for the holidays," Hage said.

The man who has been arrested will face a judge on Friday, November 15th for both the bomb threats and the sex offender violation.