Michael Ziller is named in a case.
A witness told investigators they heard Ziller say, “this (expletive) camera,” followed by the sound of the device breaking, per the complaint.
When officers tried to approach him, Ziller became confrontational, ignored an officer's commands, and turned his back on him, the complaint states. He then ignored a command not to step into a building elevator and, as an officer approached, pulled that officer inside with him, according to the same account.
Struggle Inside the Elevator Turns Chaotic
A second officer entered the elevator and attempted to use a Taser on Ziller — but one of the probes instead struck the first officer in the right thigh, according to the complaint.
Ziller requested medical attention after saying he had been injured during the encounter.
Under Wisconsin’s resisting-or-obstructing law, the offense is generally a misdemeanor, but becomes a Class H felony if a person causes substantial bodily harm or a soft-tissue injury to an officer. The law defines a soft-tissue injury as one requiring medical attention. Wisconsin’s statutory elements for resisting an officer set out that distinction.
Other Allegations
He did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, the complaint states. The complaint also indicates Ziller has a history of mental illness.
The weapons allegations raise a separate legal question from the officer-injury allegation. Wisconsin’s general concealed-weapons law requires proof that a person carried a concealed dangerous weapon, while the state’s separate concealed-knife law applies to people prohibited from possessing firearms who carry a concealed knife that qualifies as dangerous. So the complaint’s statement that Ziller lacked a concealed-carry permit does not, by itself, establish that possessing each knife was unlawful. Wisconsin’s statutory elements for concealed-weapon offenses distinguish between the two provisions.
Ziller is named in a case.
Bond Conditions Bar Weapons, Require Sobriety
A court commissioner set Ziller's cash bond at $500 and imposed a lengthy list of conditions: he must have no contact with the alleged victim or witnesses, maintain absolute sobriety, take any prescribed medications, and refrain from possessing dangerous weapons or firearms, according to the report. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
The additional dangerous-weapon and injury allegations in this case are what expose Ziller to the far steeper felony-level penalties described in the complaint.
