'Teenage' Party Ends in One Tasered, Two Arrested

Caledonia police say two men are facing charges after a resident mistook them for teenagers hosting a campfire drinking party.

Michael Nelson, 22, of Sturtevant, and Morgan Fox, 27, of Racine, were charged Friday in Racine County Circuit Court.

Nelson is looking at one misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer because police say he tried to lie about his name and three counts of felony bail jumping, two as a repeater. If convicted, he faces up to 18 years, nine months in jail and/or up to $40,000 in fines.

Fox was charged with one midemeanor count of obstructing an officer, repeater, also for trying to lie about his name. If convicted, he faces up to nine months in jail and/or up to $10,000 in fines.

According to their criminal complaints, Caledonia police were called at 9:20 p.m. Thursday to the 9400 block of David Lane for a report of teenagers carrying sleeping bags and bottles of alcohol into the woods. When officers arrived, they followed a trail to the location indicated by the caller and discovered two men and two women.

One of the men - later identified as Nelson - first tried to give officers a fake name, but when police didn't get any hits on that name, they took him into custody. A search of Nelson turned up a Wisconsin ID with his correct name and photo, the complaint reads. Because dispatch told officers that Nelson was out on a $1,000 signature bond for a felony retail theft case, he was transported immediately to the Racine County Jail.

Fox, police noted in their report, also tried to lie about his name, but officers recognized him from a previous case. When they attempted to talk to Fox after getting a positive ID, he was carrying a tent while trying to walk away from the area, the complaint reads. 

Police say they told Fox to put the tent down, but he tried to flee the scene instead and got tangled up with one of the responding officers. He managed to regain his feet and attempted to run away even as police yelled for him to stop. Finally, officers pulled their taser and fired, hitting Fox in the lower back, which incapacitated him enough for police to take him into custody.

Nelson and Fox both remain in the Racine County Jail. Nelson was assigned a $2,000 cash bond for the new charges, and will next be in court on Sept. 4 for a preliminary hearing. Fox has a $300 cash bail and has a pre-trial conference on Sept. 26.