Opera singing man arrested for attacking police officer
A man singing opera and yelling and lunging at people walking on State Street was arrested Saturday morning after he attacked a police officer.
According to a police report, Madison police officers found the man walking on the 500 block of State Street around 11 a.m. Saturday after receiving reports that he was yelling and launching himself on passersby. Police said the man, Julius A. Wilson, 55, of Madison, slurred his speech, was unsteady on his feet and smelled strongly of beer.
When police questioned him about his actions, the man explained that he was not yelling, but singing opera. He proceeded to demonstrate by singing in a loud, dramatic false opera-type voice, police said.
During his interaction with the police, the perpetrator became jumpy and argumentative, eventually attacking an officer. The officer was hit multiple times, his uniform was torn and he suffered a head cut.
Wilson was arrested and tentatively charged with resisting an officer and battery to a police officer.
Police arrest man after knife threats to Wando's Bar staff
Two employees were threatened with a knife Friday afternoon at Wando's Bar after asking a man to leave the bar.
A police report said the disruption started at Wando's, 602 University Ave., when the suspect grabbed a female bartender's arm. Bar staff said the man was drunk, uncooperative and yelling gibberish.""
Two male employees escorted him out of the bar, where he pulled a folding knife out of his pocket and started making threats. Police said the suspect pulled on the door, simultaneously making stabbing motions with the knife, while the two employees used their weight to keep it closed. The employees said they feared they would be stabbed if the door was opened.
A Madison police officer had spoken with the suspect, Marvin A. Pierce, 55, earlier in the day for yelling at passersby on State Street. Pierce has no permanent address and was arrested Friday. He was tentatively charged with 2nd degree recklessly endangering safety, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct while armed. This is one of multiple times he has been arrested downtown in recent months, and the second for a knife incident, according to Madison police.
Weapons violation at Paradise Lounge leads to arrest
Madison police arrested a man Friday night who allegedly pulled a pocketknife on a Paradise Lounge employee.
Officers were dispatched to the Paradise Lounge, 119 W. Main St., around 10 p.m. Friday.
According to a police report, the confrontation took place outside the Paradise Lounge after an employee kicked the suspect out of the bar for soliciting and harassing customers for drinks.
The employee, a 33-year-old man, said the suspect pulled out a pocketknife and unfolded the blade, but did not threaten him with the weapon. The suspect also yelled obscenities at the bar employee, and warned he would ""get his boys from the shelter,"" police said.
Joseph M. Larue, age 42, has no permanent address and was arrested on the Capitol Square by police and tentatively charged with disorderly conduct while armed.
