Man wakes up locked in tavern

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — A 29-year-old man got a rude surprise Monday morning when he woke up in a dark basement and didn't know where he was or how to get out.

The man had been drinking at a tavern on Eighth Street on Sunday night, Wisconsin Rapids Police Sgt. Mike Potocki said. He got drunk, went down into the establishment's basement and passed out.

The tavern employees didn't see the man when they closed Sunday night and locked him in, Potocki said. When the man woke up shortly after 6:30 Monday morning, there was no light, and he wasn't sure of his location.

The 29-year-old, still "extremely intoxicated," called 911, according to the Wood County Dispatch log. The man said he wasn't sure where he was, but dispatchers traced his location.

Officers contacted the business's owner, got the key and let out the drunken patron, Potocki said. There was no damage to the tavern, nothing was missing, and the man had not been driving, so officers took him home and did not request charges.