Frank Thomas. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The suspect in a Greenville standoff who previously asked to get mental health treatment pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect Friday.
Frank Thomas, 47, faces seven counts in all, including threatening a law enforcement officer and recklessly-endangering safety for the Dec. 29 event.
Trial is scheduled for April 15. It is scheduled to last five days.
The not guilty by reason of mental disease plea – the so-called insanity plea – relates to Thomas’ mental condition at the time of the offense. A psychiatric exam was ordered to determine if there is medical evidence to support the claim.
If the case goes to trial, the jury would first be asked to determine Thomas’ guilt or innocence. If Thomas is convicted, the same jury would then decide if he suffered from a mental disease and was unable to discern right from wrong. If it accepts that stance, Thomas would be committed to a psychiatric facility. If the jury rejects the insanity claim, he could be sentenced to prison.
At a previous hearing, Thomas asked for psychiatric help.
“I don’t think I should be here [jail]. If anything, I should somewhere where they could address what’s going on with my head. I never meant to hurt nobody, and Andy will stand up for me and he will say that himself, that he knows I wasn’t about to hurt nobody but my own self,” Thomas said on Jan. 3.
According to the criminal complaint, the man who lives at the home said Thomas had been there for a few days. On Thursday, while drunk, Thomas made threats of death by suicide, and tried to get the resident to shoot him. The victim did not call police, as he was afraid of Thomas and what Thomas would do if he found out the victim called police.
On Friday, Thomas fired a shot in the living room, but no one was injured. Thomas would point the loaded shotgun at the victim, threaten the victim, and threatened suicide.
After police were called to scene, Thomas allegedly threatened to shoot the officers, as well.
“Thomas also made repeated statements about being able to shoot any of the cop cars he wanted to. Thomas made additional statements about not wanting to hurt law enforcement or anyone else, but often quickly followed it up with threats that he was able to shoot at law enforcement or their vehicles. Thomas also made statements about him being the only one who was going to get hurt,” the complaint states.
Thomas fired a shot at a police drone being used to track his movements, but did not strike the drone. Eventually, Thomas surrendered.
The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department ordered a shelter-in-place advisory for residents who lived within 1/4 mile of the intersection where the incident took place.
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