Bridezilla Could Learn a Thing or Two from Unruly Waukee Wedding Guest

So-called “bridezillas” don’t have much on a Waukee man jailed last weekend on charges that include allegedly trying to take a police officer’s gun after authorities were summoned to an out-of-control wedding party at a West Des Moines hotel.

When the early Sunday morning confrontation was over, Taylor Whitney Caldwell, 28, of 2215 S.E. Prairie Creek Drive, was behind bars at the Dallas County Jail in Adel, facing multiple charges, including a felony charge of attempting to disarm a police officer. Other charges filed are interference with official acts, assault on a police officer, public intoxication and disorderly conduct by loud and raucous behavior.

It all started when members of the bride and groom’s wedding party asked bartenders at the West Des Moines Marriott to refuse alcohol to several guests who were causing problems, according to Officer Stephen Becker’s report.

Police were at the Marriott Hotel, 1250 Jordan Creek Parkway, on another matter when hotel personnel summoned them to the ballroom to help out the beleaguered bartender, who reportedly was being threatened by Caldwell and two unidentified wedding guests.

Becker told the three that the party was over and they should go to their rooms. They declined and attempted to leave the hotel, at which time Becker warned Caldwell that if he left, “he would be going to jail,” according to the report.

During the confrontation, Caldwell reportedly kicked an elevator door and guest doors, and repeatedly kicked and butted his head against the hallway, leaving impressions in the drywall, according to the police report. Police tried to restrain Caldwell and during the tussle Officer Becker was rammed against a wall so hard that it left an imprint, according to the report.

Caldwell reportedly tried to take both the officer’s gun and duty belt. When backup officers arrived, it reportedly took three of them to get Caldwell to the squad car. En route to the Dallas County Jail, Caldwell reportedly continued to bang his head against the window and cage.

Officers reportedly had to carry Caldwell into the jail in Adel, as he refused to walk. Becker said that when he left the holding area, Caldwell was “still being defiant.”