Man seriously injured in bar-time attack outside Port tavern

A 35-year-old Port Washington man is recovering from serious head wounds he suffered during an attack outside Schooner Pub early Sunday morning.

His alleged assailant, who turned himself in to authorities Monday, is in the Ozaukee County jail on a probation hold.

The Ozaukee County District Attorney’s Office has been asked to charge the 26-year-old Town of Grafton man with substantial battery, a felony, according to Port Washington police.

Police were called to the municipal parking lot behind the downtown tavern at about 2:10 a.m. after someone found Michael Wilkens II lying in a pool of blood, Capt. Mike Keller said.

Wilkens had been struck in the head with a heavy beer glass, which shattered, Keller said, adding he may have suffered additional injuries when he fell to the ground after being hit.

Officers Ryan Hurda and Jerry Nye tended to Wilkens until a Port Washington ambulance arrived and took him to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Keller said. Wilkens was later transferred to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.

Keller said the incident apparently had its roots in a discussion between the suspect and his girlfriend earlier in the night.

Another woman made a comment to the man, upsetting the man’s girlfriend, Keller said, adding that when the couple left, he was trying to calm her down.

Wilkens, who was parked near the couple, apparently made a comment to the man “that did not go over well,” Keller said. 

The men approached each other, he said. The suspect told police that at one point during the confrontation he felt threatened by Wilkens, whom he feared would hit him.

Keller said the suspect told officers he struck Wilkens on the side of his head with a heavy beer glass, shattering the glass, then punched him with his other hand.

The man told police he and his girlfriend then panicked and drove away, Keller said.

Whether the man took the glass from the bar has not been determined, Keller said. 

Police have not found anyone who witnessed the attack, Keller said, although a number of people saw Wilkens lying in the parking lot.

The following morning, he said, the suspect turned himself in to the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

Port Washington police officers questioned the man, who admitted to his part in the attack, Keller said.

“He expressed concern for the victim’s condition,” he added.

Keller said it’s unusual for someone to turn themselves in after an incident like this.

“It doesn’t happen often,” he said. “But he apparently felt the need to come forward.”

The man is in jail on a probation hold, Keller said.

District Attorney Adam Gerol said the probation hold stems from a misdemeanor child neglect conviction, noting the suspect was sentenced to two years probation in that case last February.

Circuit Judge Sandy Williams on Tuesday set bail for the suspect at a $5,000 signature bond and ordered him to have no contact with the victim and his family. She also ordered him to consume no alcohol and to stay out of any establishment that sells intoxicants.

Gerol said Tuesday he was waiting for final police reports before determining what charges, if any, to file in the case.