Chris Muller
Appleton Post-Crescent
APPLETON, Wis. — A 49-year-old Kaukauna man accused of attacking an Appleton police officer with a knife in the police department’s parking lot faces multiple charges, including attempted homicide.
Troy VanGrinsven has been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, battery to a police officer and resisting a police officer, according to a criminal complaint filed against him Wednesday in Outagamie County.
The incident began shortly after 2 a.m. March 31, when an Appleton police officer noticed a vehicle behind him that, even after a series of turns, seemed to be intentionally following him.
The driver of the vehicle didn’t attempt to signal the officer “as if the driver was in some sort of distress,” which made the officer concerned about a potential ambush situation, the complaint says.
When the officer turned his squad car around to get behind the vehicle, he identified the car by its license plate as belonging to VanGrinsven, as another officer responded to assist. But the driver didn’t stop when the officer activated his lights and sirens, instead driving through a red light at the intersection of Richmond and Franklin streets.
The driver continued south on Richmond Street, but came to a stop at a green light near College Avenue, which the officer believed was the driver “trying to bait officers into making contact with him again,” the complaint says.
“Due to all the information gathered at this point, it was determined officers would not continue to follow the vehicle,” the complaint says.
Then, shortly after 4 a.m., the same officer was walking to his squad car when he noticed a person standing in the Walnut Street area, along with a vehicle that appeared to be similar to the one that had followed him earlier in the night.
When the officer tried to make contact with the man, later identified as VanGrinsven, the man began to walk toward him. The man didn’t respond to questions and the officer noticed the man’s right hand was hidden behind his leg.
VanGrinsven refused to show the officer his hand, the complaint says, and the officer noticed a change in his facial expression. The officer began to retreat behind a nearby squad car, but was still uncertain what was in VanGrinsven’s hand.
The officer then approached VanGrinsven, wrapped his arms around his waist and tackled him to the ground. VanGrinsven began to strike the officer in the upper back, the complaint says, and “at one point felt a small feeling similar to a pinch in that area.”
Another police officer who came to assist saw the altercation, grabbed VanGrinsven’s left arm and saw he had a knife, the complaint says. The officer managed to get the knife and throw it to the side.
An officer who found the knife said “it looked like a common kitchen knife with a brown handle,” the complaint says. Another officer heard VanGrinsven say “he wanted officers to kill him and he was wondering why they had not done so.”
Another officer reported VanGrinsven appeared to be having “some sort of mental or substance abuse-induced breakdown,” the complaint says.
The officer who was the target of the initial attack had several injuries, including a small puncture wound on his left arm and multiple cuts on his upper back and left side, and a small cut beneath his chin, the complaint says.
When police interviewed VanGrinsven’s mother, she told an investigator that VanGrinsven is schizophrenic and has been seeing a doctor and taking medication, but new pills made him believe everyone was after him.