Austin resident charged for yelling at Census worker

Published 9:41 am Friday, June 4, 2010

An Austin man who allegedly shouted expletives at a Census worker and demanded she get off his property was charged with making terroristic threats, which is a felony, on Thursday.

Rodney Kvam, 60, has been summoned to appear in Mower County court on that charge as well as two lesser counts on July 1.

According to a criminal complaint, the incident in question occurred May 17. The Census worker said she went to Kvam’s 56387 220th St. residence because he hadn’t mailed in his form.

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After showing Kvam her ID badge and stating she was a federal employee, the woman said Kvam told her to get off his property and he began to verbally attack her, the complaint states.

The woman said she tried to get Kvam to cooperate, but he persisted with his threatening behavior. She then left the residence and went to a neighbor’s, who also hadn’t sent in a Census form. However, Kvam continued to yell at the woman and told her to leave his property, the complaint states. He also allegedly kicked at her vehicle.

The woman left the area in her vehicle. She subsequently learned that the second property she went to was owned by Kvam but rented by someone else.

On May 21, the woman reported the incident to Mower County authorities, who went to Kvam’s residence that day. Kvam told a deputy that he never talked to a Census worker in his life, the complaint states.

The deputy informed Kvam of the report and that he could face charges, to which Kvam said, “You can take whatever story you want … if that’s the case, then you can take me to jail,” the complaint states.

Kvam was put under arrest, and he attempted to pull away from the deputy. When the deputy was able to grab him, a scuffle ensued and the officer had to push Kvam up against a wall, the complaint states. Kvam also allegedly tried to injure himself by pounding his head on the wall.

Before being led away, Kvam accused the deputy of taking $2,000 from his pocket during a pat-down search. The deputy said he had only taken a knife, and he offered to count a wad of money found in the pants in front of Kvam’s wife, who had come outside to witness the arrest. She declined.

Kvam’s wife also told the deputy that she did remember a Census worker coming to the house on May 17, and she remembered her husband yelling at her to leave.

The complaint states that Kvam continued to be uncooperative as he was taken to jail, making derogatory comments to the deputy during the drive. He also refused to sign booking documents at the jail. However, he did provide an alcohol breath test, which came back at 0.064. The legal limit is 0.08.