RACINE – A Racine man was tasered, arrested, and charged with three misdemeanors following an alleged domestic abuse incident near the Racine County Jail on Monday afternoon.
The Racine County District Attorney’s office charged Tavarez D. Williams, 40, of 1823 W. Sixth St., with misdemeanor battery, disorderly conduct, and obstructing an officer. The battery and disorderly conduct charges include additional domestic abuse penalties. A signature bond was set at $500 during an initial court appearance Tuesday.
According to the criminal complaint, Racine Police were dispatched to 7th and Main Street about 3:40 p.m. Monday on public reports of a man hitting and yelling at a woman. Meanwhile, a Racine County Sheriffs deputy who was leaving the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., at the end of his shift was confronted by a woman who said she had been struck by a man. The deputy escorted the woman to the Racine County Jail entrance on Eighth Street where she could safely wait while police responded.
Just as other deputies entered the jail lobby area to assist, the woman identified Williams, who was outside as the man who had struck her. Williams, described in a Sheriff’s Office news release as “loud, disorderly, boisterous”, tried to enter the jail lobby but went back outside when he saw two deputies. He then ignored deputies’ commands to stop and ran down Eighth Street. He was stopped after a deputy deployed a taser. Williams was taken into custody and held in the Racine County Jail.
The criminal complaint stated that Williams and the woman have a 9-year-old child together. On Monday afternoon, the two had been drinking alcohol near the Gateway Technical College campus near Lake Avenue and Tenth Street. The woman told police that Williams started to yell at her about cheating on him. She attempted to get help from a friend who lives near the former YMCA building on Lake Avenue but Williams followed her, grabbed her by the arm, and repeatedly struck her in the face.
The woman, still followed by Williams, made her way outside the jail where she confronted the sheriff’s deputy.
At Tuesday’s initial appearance, Williams was ordered not to have conduct with the woman, her residence, or her family. A status conference was scheduled for Oct. 11 in Branch 4 of Racine County Circuit Court.