Surprise! Man's interrupted dream led to assaults

An interrupted dream apparently inspired the assault of a Surprise police officer and two medical workers late on Monday. Surprise police Sgt. Mark Ortega gave this account of the situation: An employee at the Chevron gas station near U.S. 60 and Parkview Place walked up to Surprise resident William Meadows' pickup truck and knocked on his window when he noticed the man was laying down inside.

Meadows, 47, awoke and became violent. A Surprise officer arrived at the gas station about 7:30 p.m. to find Meadows yelling. The officer ordered Meadows to sit down and asked what upset him. Meadows said the gas station employee had interrupted a "very good dream." The officer handcuffed the Surprise man and sat him inside a police cruiser.

Meadows then began to kick the back window. Police placed restraints on Meadows' legs but the Surprise man continued to act violently. Officers decided to call for firefighters' help because they were concerned about the cause of Meadows' behavior. Upon a fire crew's arrival, a police officer began to take Meadows out of the police cruiser. Meadows spit on him.

Officials decided to take Meadows to Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center. Meadows bit the hand of a staff member helping to load him into an ambulance. Once at the hospital, Meadows punched a nurse. Examiners found nothing to explain Meadows' behavior.