Battery: State Street

Police arrested a Madison man for the second time in the past few months after he caused a violent disturbance at a downtown bar early Thursday morning.

Paris Reese, 22, was arrested for battery, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon at Whiskey Jack’s Saloon on 552 State Street at 12:30 a.m., according to a Madison Police Department statement.

The saloon’s staff asked Reese to comply with the dress code of the establishment and eventually asked him to leave after he began breaking darts by throwing them at the walls, the statement said. Several members of the saloon’s staff and a patron tried to get the suspect out of the bar, the statement said.

Staff succeeded in pushing Reese out of the bar after he spat in the face of one employee and bit the shoulder of another, the statement said. It said Reese also hit the patron in the face three times and punched the neck of a man smoking outside.

Police found a knife in Reeses’s hand when they approached him on State Street, the statement said.

“[Reese] said he thought he was being harassed by the bouncer,” MPD spokesperson DeSpain said. “He denies punching anyone.”

None of the victims sustained any serious injuries, according to DeSpain.

Shqualia Atkins, 30, was with Reese during the incident and was cited for disorderly conduct and battery, the statement said. Atkins punched one bouncer of the saloon and hit another in the head with her purse, the statement said. Police did not arrest Atkins, the statement said.

Police previously arrested Reese on Feb. 10 for substantial battery after he allegedly punched two men on West Gilman Street, DeSpain said.

MPD are asking Reese be banned from the greater State Street area as a condition of his bail, DeSpain said.

“This is the same person that was arrested a couple weeks ago,” DeSpain said. “That’s the reason [police] had the idea to ban him in the state street area.”

Information: Maple Avenue (Lowell Elementary School)

Police were called to investigate an elementary school on the east side after school officials found a suspicious object on the playground Thursday morning.

Staff at Lowell Elementary School located at 401 Maple Ave. discovered a broken bottle with a sock stuffed into the opening at 10:23 a.m., according to an MPD statement. The bottle was suspicious because it smelled like a combustible liquid, the statement said.

Police found no signs of fire or an explosion in the area surrounding the bottle the statement said. Police believe the bottle ended up in the playground sometime during the night, the statement said.

The students and school officials did not receive any threats, the statement said.