Man pulls knife on couple sitting outside restaurant, police say

A man pulled a knife on a couple as they sat outside a restaurant on the Capitol Square on Friday afternoon, according to a release from Madison police.

The man, 24, and woman, 32, told police the drunken man was asking them repeatedly for money, and got angry when they didn’t give him any. They said he pulled out a knife and began calling the man names and held a knife to his own neck as he threatened to kill himself if he didn’t get some cash.

Police were called, and officers used a Taser to arrest Ronald E. Duell, 58, on suspicion of disorderly conduct while armed, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest. Police said Duell’s preliminary breath test measured 0.236 blood alcohol content.

The couple told police they did not know what he might do, and they felt threatened by the encounter.