Anchorage police say they arrested a man outside a Turnagain restaurant Wednesday evening after he "caused a disturbance" tables away from where Gov. Bill Walker was dining and then broke the arm of an off-duty officer.
Police Sgt. Mark Bakken said he suspected the man was high on psychedelic drugs when he walked into the Rustic Goat with two other people. The man's antics were not directed at Walker, Bakken said.
"It had nothing to do with Medicaid expansion. It had nothing to do with the pipeline," Walker quipped after leaving the restaurant.
The man, whom police have not identified, went to the second floor of the Rustic Goat and caused "a little bit of a ruckus," Walker said. Bakken said "he was just sort of out of it."
Jennifer Castro, the Anchorage Police Department's communications director, said in a news release that the man, who is in his late 20s, was shouting profanities in the upstairs section of the restaurant.
Someone who knew the man tried unsuccessfully to pull him back down the stairs. An off-duty police officer was also dining at the restaurant, Bakken said. He intervened, Castro said, and escorted the man outside.
There, the man attacked the officer. He pushed him against a wall and broke the officer's arm, Castro said. Another person helped the officer restrain the man, Castro said.
Police arrived and arrested the man. He screamed as he was ushered out of a police car's back seat.
"He's going to the hospital to be treated and then he'll go to jail," Bakken said.
Castro said charges were pending against the man late Wednesday.
Anna Plumb, the Rustic Goat's general manager, noted that the man "had nothing to do with our guests or our establishment."