Police arrested a Madison man late Saturday night for allegedly punching a volunteer safety patrol officer in the face.
Joe Oakland, the Madison chapter leader of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer organization dedicated to promoting safe communities, said he and another volunteer were patrolling State Street when they saw Ralph K. Cohen, 33, fighting with two other men on the 500 block of State Street.
After moving in to break up the fight, the Guardian Angels moved Cohen to the other side of the street, according to Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain.
Cohen then shouted obscenities and derogatory statements at the Guardian Angel volunteers, according to police.
Oakland said Cohen struck his fellow patrol officer twice in the face.
DeSpain said the two Guardian Angels held the suspect on the ground until the MPD arrived.
Cohen told the arresting officer “he was drunk and didn’t know what happened, but that he ended up with a bunch of Guardian Angels on top of him,” according to police.
