When police finally entered the home of an armed man who engaged in an overnight standoff with officers in New Brighton this week, they found a message waiting for them.
Along with a shotgun in the garage and a rifle with a scope in the lower level of the home, there was a “thin ice” warning sign posted on the corner of the property.
Only this one read: “To New Brighton Police. Back off!! You are on extremely … Thin Ice. I will annihilate you,” according to the criminal complaint filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court.
Peter Dziuk, 67, was charged with multiple crimes, including second-degree assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment and domestic assault.
The incident was the culmination of a “documented history of hostility” Dziuk has shown toward New Brighton and its police force over the years, authorities say. Their run-ins have included burning and firearm citations as well as notices for disorderly conduct and trespassing.
Dziuk has also vented his views in emails regularly sent to city officials in which he refers to police as “Nazi, Zionest Traitors,” the criminal complaint said.
Early Wednesday — the day of the standoff — New Brighton police got an anonymous call from someone claiming to be close to Dziuk who warned that Dziuk had plans to shoot police from a concealed location after luring them to his home with a bonfire, according to the charges.
The caller said Dziuk had mentioned suicide and a desire to “take the police with him,” noting that Dziuk had guns and was high on mushrooms, marijuana and alcohol, according to the charges.
Police referred the case to Ramsey County Mental Health for follow-up.
About 7 p.m. that night, officers responded to a 911 call at Dziuk’s address on the 1500 block of Long Lake Road from a woman who also lives there and used to be romantically involved with Dziuk.
She said Dziuk had been drinking and became angry with her when she didn’t want him to use her printer to make copies of a letter he wanted to distribute, according to the charges.
He reportedly threatened her with a pair of pruners, knocked her down and repeatedly struck her before smashing her printer outside and grabbing a shotgun that he pointed under his chin, according to the charges.
He threatened to “blow his brains out” if police were called, she said, according to the complaint.
Officers tried to talk by phone to the man and woman while the Ramsey County SWAT Team responded. When the team was in position, the woman escaped from a window. That’s when police say Dziuk fired at SWAT officers from a back deck of the house.
Police fired back. No one was injured.
The standoff finally ended about 6 a.m. Thursday after SWAT officers went inside and, with the assistance of tear gas and a police canine, found Dziuk in the lower level and arrested him.
In a later interview with officers, Dziuk reportedly admitted to pushing the woman down and hitting her. He said he was only trying to “make a point” when he put his shotgun under his chin and that he never intended to shoot himself or threaten her, according to the charges. He added that he fired a “warning shot” in the air when he saw SWAT officers running across his yard because he wanted to “let them know it (was) dangerous,” the complaint said.
Dziuk is expected to make his first appearance on the charges Friday afternoon. No attorney was listed for him in court records.