Bogus alarm leaves mess in City Hall
By REID MAGNEY / La Crosse Tribune
A drunken student who thought City Hall was on fire got into the building early Sunday morning, setting off a fire alarm, discharging extinguishers and causing havoc.
According to police reports, Grant C. Anderson, 21, of the 200 block of S. 16th St., was drinking to celebrate his roommate?s birthday at a house and a downtown bar, where his friends lost track of him.
At 1 a.m. Sunday, police officers heard a fire alarm in the building and began searching for the cause. In the basement they found a smashed vending machine, a blood trail and footprints in fire extinguisher dust. On the third and first floors, they found fire extinguishers missing.
A firefighter responding to the scene told police he saw someone run out the north door of City Hall. An officer caught a bleeding Anderson inside the police lobby, trying frantically to punch numbers into the combination lock on the security door.
?I just want to help,? Anderson told the officer as he was being handcuffed. The junior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse made no further statement at the time, but a preliminary breath sample showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.22 percent.
Anderson was released on bond and returned to City Hall later Sunday. He then told police he was walking past City Hall and thought he heard a fire alarm, so he found an open door to make sure everybody was out of the building. He said he didn?t realize it was City Hall and the police station.
?It was not my intent to cause damage and vandalize the property,? Anderson said. ?There are a lot of details that I am unable to recall due to excessive drinking.?
He faces charges of criminal trespass, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, theft and making false alarm. He also may be liable for $638.19, the cost for the fire department to respond to the alarm.