Report of Dries Street fight leads to abuse charges

Police officers who responded to a report of screaming, swearing and a physical altercation Saturday in the 600 block of N. Dries St., in Saukville arrested a 36-year-old man who now faces a domestic abuse felony.

The man, who is accused of shoving and choking his wife, was charged this week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with strangulation and suffocation as well as a misdemeanor count of domestic abuse disorderly conduct.

Ozaukee Press is not naming the man to protect the identity of his wife.

According to a criminal complaint, an officer who was called to Dries Street at 9:19 a.m. Sept. 16 eventually found the man outside his home and recognized him from prior contacts. The officer said that when he encountered the man previously, he was paranoid and erratic and was believed to be under the influence of cocaine.

On Saturday, the man, who had small scratches on his nose, told the officer he and his wife had an argument.

The man’s wife told the officer that she believed her husband was under the influence of drugs and was “acting erratic, so I told him he can’t come in (the home) because the kids are sleeping,” the complaint states.

The woman said her husband pushed and threw her to the ground, then “he grabbed me by the throat and said, ‘You’re not going to keep me away,’” according to the complaint.

She said her husband put both his hands around her neck and squeezed.