Staff Report

William G. McCleary

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was recently arrested after allegedly threatening a man with a knife while intoxicated.

William G. McCleary, 61, 201 S. Detroit St. 364, Warsaw, is charged with intimidation with a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony; battery, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class B misdemeanor.

On Oct. 15, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a battery report involving a knife and saw a man, later identified as McCleary, following another man around on foot.

McCleary was asked where the knife was; he pulled a knife from his pocket and dropped it on the ground. McCleary told the officer that the man was knocking on his neighbor’s door and he didn’t like it. While speaking with McCleary, the officer detected a strong alcoholic odor and noticed McCleary’s balance was unsteady.

The officer then spoke with the man, who said he was attempting to get his child to sleep when he heard a loud noise coming from a neighboring residence. The man said he went to ask the neighbor to turn their music down; when he knocked on the door, McCleary appeared from a nearby residence and yelled at him to stop knocking on the door. McCleary then allegedly became angry and walked toward the man, punching him in the chest and pulling him by the shirt.

McCleary also pulled a knife and pointed it at the man. The man called 911 and ran outside. He said McCleary was following him until law enforcement arrived.

The officer noticed a red mark on the man’s chest from McCleary punching him. McCleary also consented to a portable breath test for intoxication and tested 0.16% BAC at the time of the incident.

McCleary was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Oct. 15, with a $10,250 surety and cash bond.