Courts
41-year-old woman arrested at her home by Vernon County Sheriff’s deputy, after someone called saying they had not communicated with her lately
A welfare check around 11 a.m. Monday at the home of a 41-year-old woman led to her arrest by the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department.
Stacie Lynn Welter was arrested Monday, after reportedly coming to the door with an aluminum baseball bat and later a metal rod, when sheriff’s deputies arrived to check on her wellbeing.
The sheriff’s department reported a person who is in regular contact with Welter, had not “been able to communicate with her,” for around a week, and that there was snow in her driveway and her dogs were outside “at large.”
The sheriff’s department said a deputy went to the 41-year-old’s home Monday and noticed the front door had a broken window.
As they approached, Welter reportedly said police were at her house and came to the front door, while holding the baseball bat.
The deputy was able to get Welter to put down the bat, describing it in the report as de-escalating the situation. The sheriff’s office then said the deputy transitioned from having out their gun to something like a taser while engaging with Welter.
After putting the bat down, as the deputy transitioned from their gun, talks “deteriorated” and Welter allegedly picked up a metal rod and “raised it while advancing toward the deputy,” the report said. That’s when they essentially tased Welter and took her into custody.
It’s unclear from the report if this happened from inside or outside Welter’s residence.
During a brief court hearing on Christmas Eve, a judge found probable cause to bring charges against Welter.
The sheriff’s department said Welter refused medical treatment, then was booked for “first degree recklessly endangering safety, resisting or obstructing an officer, felony bail jumping, and prisoner throwing or expelling bodily fluids.”
The sheriff’s department also said “Based on training, experience, and observations, drug use is suspected.”
Welter has a bond hearing scheduled Thursday in Vernon County court.