Two men were arrested Tuesday night for breaking into a construction site on the 300 block of West Washington Avenue.
Police officers were sent at 2:14 a.m. to a Findorff construction site of a new Hyatt hotel in response to an alarm. Witness confirmed two men had been seen running from the site, according to the incident report.
After arriving at the site, police identified one man as Erin Miller of Milwaukee, the report said. Miller was issued a misdemeanor citation for entering a construction site.
Soon after, police found the second suspect, Reinaldo Garcia-Castrillion of Milwaukee, walking near the site, the report said.
Garcia-Castrillion told police he was not doing anything wrong, and he was on his way home. However, MPD was skeptical after Garcia-Castrillion recited his address and police realized his home was in the opposite direction, the report added.
Police then performed a routine background check and found the identification information that Garcia-Castrillion gave them was incorrect. According to the report, Garcia-Castrillion became very nervous at this point, began to struggle and attempted to flee police.
“Burglary at construction sites is a citywide problem — people are frequently entering to burglarize them,” Sgt. Chris Paulson of the Madison Police Department said.
Police had to use a Taser to control Garcia-Castrillion before bringing him into jail. According to Paulson, Tasers are often used if the suspect is struggling or resisting police.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the use of a Taser by the MPD is “neither uncommon nor rare.”
If officers feel they need to use a Taser, they are permitted to use it, Verveer said, adding officers are now generally trained and equipped with Tasers.
According to the report, Garcia-Castrillion was tentatively charged with entering a construction site, obstruction, possession of a controlled substance and resisting police.
Verveer said the two suspects were on the site at bar time, insinuating the two may have been intoxicated at the time of the incident.
— Heather Burian contributed to this report.
