SLN staff
A Union Grove man has been charged with battery to a police officer and disorderly conduct while authorities continue to investigate a suspicious fire at the trailer home where he was arrested.
Steven Woolf, 38, was charged Monday in Racine County Circuit Court for the incident that occurred after a Racine County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to remove him from near the burning trailer home in the 1400 block of 11th Avenue.
Deputies were initially dispatched to the mobile home Sunday about 8 p.m., for a report that Woolf was off his medication. However, before the responding deputy left a higher priority call, another dispatch was made because the trailer home had since started on fire.
When he arrived at the scene the deputy noted that flames were coming out of the back half of the trailer. He encountered Woolf sitting near the front of the trailer and told him to move away from the home, but he refused, according to the complaint.
The deputy was able to escort Woolf away from the fire to a squad car and while doing so he noted Woolf appeared intoxicated and needed assistance to walk. Woolf admitted drinking 12 beers, the complaint states.
Deputies spoke to Woolf’s mother, who said her son began drinking boxed wine earlier that day and became mean and aggressive toward her, the complaint states. After calling his mother names and saying he was going to “kill a lot of people,” Woolf smashed a candleholder – cutting his hand in the process – and flipped the coffee table, the complaint alleges.
At that point the mother left to call police from a neighboring home. She said she was gone for 10 to 15 minutes and when she returned to the trailer to check on Woolf she heard a smoke alarm and saw towels next to the stove on fire, according to the complaint.
The mother said she found Woolf in his room sleeping and attempted to rouse him, but he didn’t understand what she was saying, the complaint states. She and a neighbor eventually succeeded in getting Woolf out of the trailer, but by then the flames had already spread to the ceiling of the trailer.
Woolf was taken to Ascension All Saints Hospital for medical clearance and while he was there he allegedly became agitated and kicked a deputy in the torso, the complaint alleges.
At the jail, officials gave Woolf a portable breath test that returned a reading of .373, according to the complaint, which is more than four times the legal standard of intoxication in drunken driving cases.
Woolf made his initial appearance in court Monday and a commissioner ordered a competency evaluation. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for Nov. 30.
There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire, which was extinguished by the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Department, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Investigation of the fire was turned over to the Racine County Arson Task Force.
For additional local news from Racine County Courts, see this week’s editions of the Burlington Standard Press, Waterford Post and Westine Report.
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