Alleged ‘Belligerent’ Drunk Tells West Des Moines Police to Hold On While She Finishes Her Beer

Police had to wrestle a beer bottle away from a woman who allegedly refused to leave a West Des Moines bar after becoming “belligerent and jealous” of another patron, then fought with police when they attempted to place her under arrest.

Stacey Lee Nielsen, 41, of 517 14th St., was charged with public intoxication and interference with official acts after the April 2 incident at Ladder 13, a firefighter-themed neighborhood bar at 1316 Grand Ave.

Nielsen refused to take a sobriety test after police arrested her, but Jake Johnson, a bartender at Ladder 13, said Nielsen drank five beers and four shots of alcohol over the course of several hours, according to a report on file at the .

Johnson said he and Nielsen had dated at one time. He alleged Nielsen became “belligerent and jealous” about another woman who was at the bar and accused Johnson of cheating on her while he and Nielsen were dating, according to the report.

Johnson also alleged Nielsen had pushed another patron before he asked her several times to leave. When Nielsen refused, Johnson called police.

When police officers Rob Weir and Ben Woods responded, Nielsen told them she had done nothing wrong and that “she wasn’t leaving until she had finished the beer she had in front of her,” according to Weir’s report.

Weir said he grabbed the bottle from Nielsen’s hand and placed it on the bar. He wrote, “I struggled with Nielsen to get the bottle out of her hand, and once I did, she started screaming, ‘Take me to (expletive) jail.”

Police alleged Nielsen continued to struggle and argued with officers as they placed her in the squad car and took her  to the West Des Moines holding facility.

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