A wedding crasher in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was charged with sexual assault — and punched by the bride — for inappropriately touching women at the dance, police say.
A wedding crasher in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was charged with sexual assault — and punched by the bride — for inappropriately touching women at the dance, police say. Eau Claire County Court
A wedding crasher in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was charged with sexual assault — and punched by the bride — for inappropriately touching women at the dance, police say. Eau Claire County Court

National

The wedding crasher groped teen guests, cops say. The bride got to him before police.

By Jared Gilmour

jgilmour@mcclatchy.com

January 25, 2018 06:48 PM

A man who crashed a wedding reception in Eau Claire, Wisc., over the weekend didn’t exactly lay low once he had sneaked into the event, police said.

First, William A. Dickinson, 25, groped and tried to dance with two teen girls during the event at the Best Western Hotel on Jan. 19, according to a police report. One girl was 17 and the other was 18. Then, when a 14-year-old saw what Dickinson was doing and tried to step in, police said he pulled the girl’s hair hard enough that it hurt, the Eau Claire Leader Telegram reports.

That’s when others at the reception started to get mad, Dickinson told police, though he said he wasn’t exactly sure why. As Dickinson walked away, the bride’s father pushed him, according to police — and Dickinson responded by punching the man, WQOW reports. Dickinson admitted to police that he’d been drinking.

Dickinson eventually went up to the bride to apologize, saying that he “hoped he didn’t ruin her party,” according to a copy of the police report obtained by The Smoking Gun.

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Judging from what happened next, the bride didn’t accept Dickinson’s apology: The bride proceeded to punch Dickinson in the face, police said.

Dickinson told police he “probably deserved it,” according to the police report. Dickinson had tried inviting one of the teen girls up to his hotel room, the alleged victim told police, and had badgered the girls when they didn’t want to dance with him.

Dickinson, a Burlington, Kansas, native, was arrested shortly after midnight Jan. 20 at the hotel. On Monday, Dickinson was charged in Eau Claire County Court with felony physical abuse of a child, misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, the Leader Telegram reports. Dickinson’s next court appearance is March 5.

A friend of Dickinson’s who also crashed the wedding said they were hoping to “get laid,” according to the police report. The friend told police he and Dickinson had been drinking at the Best Western bar and befriended a wedding guest, who then invited them to join the wedding reception.

Dickinson’s bail was set at $1,000 cash, and he is prohibited from having contact with girls, drinking and entering bars.

As he was being arrested, Dickinson told police that “he likes to fight people,” according to the police report.

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