Town of Gillett man charged in assault

Bond was set at $100,000 cash after a Town of Gillett man was charged with the Feb. 27 assault of a woman outside his home. Joey Vandewettering, 61, appeared in Oconto County Circuit Court on March 7 and was formally charged with first-degree sexual assault, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation, first-degree reckless endangerment and possession of methamphetamine, along with misdemeanor charges of battery, disorderly conduct, possession of THC and possession of drug paraphernalia. Judge Michael Judge set bail and adjourned Vandewettering’s initial appearance until April 11. According to the complaint, Vandewettering called the woman and told her to come to his house to collect money that he owed her. When she arrived, he asked her to come into the house and “freaked out” when she refused, the complaint said. He allegedly got into her car on the passenger side, and when she tried to exit the car he dragged her back in and assaulted her, at one point sitting on her with his knee on her neck, and said several times that he would kill her, according to the complaint. Officers later executed a search warrant at Vandewettering’s home and recovered quantities of methamphetamine and THC.