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A man was arrested after punching the window of a State Street restaurant early Sunday morning, in one of several other minor Freakfest incidents.
According to the incident report, at 2:47 a.m., a Madison Street Department employee witnessed a man removing his fist from the window of Himal Chuli restaurant on State Street, shattering the window and cutting the man’s hand.
Police arrested a 27-year-old Milwaukee man, Xavier Armando Garcia, on charges of criminal damage to property for the incident.
The police also released updated arrest and attendance statistics Monday. According to Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain, 51 people were arrested Saturday, 45 of whom were cited and released. The estimated number of revelers was 50,000, including 44,000 actual ticket-holders and an additional number who arrived on State Street before the event was fenced off, DeSpain said.
Himal Chuli manager Jamuna Shrestha said this is the third time the business’ windows have been broken during Halloween festivities, but the first in which the suspect has been caught. None of the three incidents has resulted in any stolen items, Shrestha said.
Shrestha called the incident “very sad,” saying the cost to repair the window is significant for a small business.
Despite the damage done to her restaurant, Shrestha commended the MPD on its patrol of Freakfest.
Although DeSpain could not confirm any additional reported damage, Pizza di Roma, located across the street from Himal Chuli, also sustained a broken window around 11 p.m. Saturday, said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who was present at the scene. Verveer said the restaurant manager chased the perpetrator but lost him in the crowd.
Verveer said though he “felt badly” for the two restaurant owners, overall, this year’s Freakfest resulted in relatively few incidents.
Prior to the gated admission process of Freakfest, particularly in the early 2000s, vandalism occurred much more frequently and police resorted to using pepper spray and tear gas at the end of the evening, Verveer said. In 2002, dozens of windows were broken and looting took place on the 400 block of State Street.
“Compared to some past Halloweens, the amount of property damage was minimal this past weekend,” Verveer said.
Check out photos from Freakfest 2009.
