A 46-year-old homeless man who was too intoxicated for jail on Aug. 29 was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge two days later after incidents at the Dos Amigos Mexican grill.
According to reports, the weekend began when Madison police officers were sent to Jay’s Vape Shop on Eatonton Road regarding a man cursing at customers who wouldn’t give him money.
Later, Sgt. Stacy Eaton was dispatched to the Coach & Buggy car wash just south of the vape shop following similar reports. Eaton found Willy Joel Cox, 46, lying on the ground on the back side of the car wash. Customers told him Cox used a racial slur toward Black patrons who wouldn’t give him money, so Eaton decided to charge Cox with interference with the business of another and pedestrian under the influence of alcohol.
However, due to his level of impairment, he could not be booked into the Morgan County jail. He then refused to be taken to Morgan Medical Center, so he was transported to the former Rite Aid parking lot at his request. He was issued citations and released.
Sgt. Travis Stubbs and Senior Officer Emily Eaton were dispatched to Dos Amigos at around 6 p.m. the following Sunday in reference to a white male “in the restaurant grabbing food off tables and cussing at customers.”
Eaton and Stubbs found Cox, who is reportedly well-known to MPD officers, on the patio wearing a large book bag in which he is known to carry a large hatchet. Cox had a Styrofoam cup in his left hand and tortilla chips in his right.
An employee told the officers that Cox had entered the restaurant and began taking food and drinking beverages from the table of customers. When customers questioned his behavior, he yelled obscenities at them, the employee said.
Cox refused to comply when he was asked to put down his book bag, but the officers were able to secure it and place him in the back of Eaton’s patrol vehicle.
When Cox refused to place his legs completely inside the vehicle, Stubbs had to place them in the vehicle in order to close the door.
According to reports, Cox continued to curse at the officer and make obscene statements while in the rear of Eaton’s vehicle.
After he was booked into the Morgan County jail, he began yelling obscenities and punching the glass window.
According to MPD records, officers responded to five separate calls involving Cox over the last weekend of August. Cox currently has three criminal trespass warnings that ban him from Madison businesses.