Man Repeatedly Fires Gun at 'Intruders', Police Say

A 33-year-old Greenfield man is accused of firing off a gun inside his apartment after he thought two were trying to break in.

Turns out there was no one there at all.

Ryan Robert Zoulek was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Wednesday with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Dec. 7, Greenfield police officers were called to a duplex in the 5100 block of South 43rd Street where Zoulek lives upstairs and is mother downstairs. Zoulek told police that while home that night, he saw the blinds move. He then looked out of the window and thought he saw two men, one of whom began to shoot at the apartment, Zoulek told police.

He said the men climbed in through the window, so he hid behind his television Meanwhile, one of the men, he said, hid under a pink blanket in the room. Zoulek said the men then shot off a gun in the room, then one left out the window while the other kicked down his door and left that way.

Officers found bullet holes in the wall and furniture, a .40 caliber handgun in the freezer, cocaine and Oxycodone pills.

Zoulek said he bought the gun a month ago to protect himself because he’s paranoid after getting robbed in the past. He told police he’s also taking multiple prescription drugs along with illegal steroids.

Zoulek then said in hindsight he probably didn’t see two intruders and figured the movement of the blinds was from wind. He said he did think there was someone under the blanket, so he fired off a few rounds into it, listened to see if he heard anything, then escaped by kicking down his own door.

Zoulek was convicted of a felony escape charge from 2008. He will make his initial appearance in court Jan. 22.