Caiden Stachowicz (Photo courtesy Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office)
FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Caiden Stachowicz abandoned his insanity plea Monday for allegedly setting fire to U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s office in Fond du Lac.
Stachowicz, 19, faces three charges, including arson, for the Jan. 19 fire at 525 N. Peters Ave.
Stachowicz had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. But after the results of a psychiatric evaluation were returned, he dropped the plea, court records show.
No trial date has been set. He returns to court Sept. 16 for a status conference.
According to the criminal complaint, the teen admitted to attempting to break into the congressional office in order to set the fire. When that didn’t work, he wanted to pour gasoline outside the building from the back to the front. Strong winds and fear of injuring himself led Stachowicz to simply light an electrical box in the back of the building on fire, the complaint says.
Prosecutors say Stachowicz was upset over Grothman’s vote in favor of the short-lived ban on TikTok.
Stachowicz was arrested shortly after crews extinguished the fire at the office, located at a strip mall. No one was injured during the fire, but Grothman’s office sustained damage.
Prosecutors originally also charged him with making terrorist threats, but because there was no threat made before the acts, a judge dismissed that count.
Grothman is a Republican who represents Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district. He was first elected to his seat in 2014.
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