TOWN OF RIVER FALLS – A belligerent wedding guest apparently drank too much last weekend and punched at least two people in the face, including a woman and a sheriff’s deputy.

Matthew David Helke, 27, Rosemount, Minn., was ordered to pay $500 cash bond Oct. 13 in Pierce County Circuit Court on two felony battery to certain individuals involved in the court or legal system and single counts of battery, resisting or obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct. If convicted, the maximum penalty he faces is six years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

Deputies were dispatched at 11:11 p.m. to Belle Ame Vineyard (W10829 875th Ave.) in the Town of River Falls for a fight in the parking lot. When police arrived, they found Helke hunched over the driver’s door of a white SUV, which was covered in blood. He was bleeding profusely from his face around his nose and eye and appeared to be heavily intoxicated. His speech was slurred; he smelled of alcohol and tried walking away when asked for his ID.

Helke became belligerent and an officer grasped the back of his collar telling him he was not free to leave. As the officer escorted him back toward the squad car, Helke turned around and punched the officer in the face. He was brought down to the ground in a controlled decentralization technique and put in handcuffs. While on the ground, he continued to physically resist officers. Despite multiple verbal commands informing him that he was under arrest and ordering him to stop resisting, Helke refused to comply. He also began shouting racial slurs and profanities. He repeatedly used the “N” word to refer to deputies and EMS personnel who were arriving on scene.

After deputies handcuffed Helke, he kicked one of them in the legs. Due to his continued aggression and physical resistance, he was put into leg restraints. Allina EMS transported Helke to River Falls Area Hospital for an evaluation. During his transport to jail, he continued to use racial slurs and vulgar profanities. He also failed the booking process at the jail due to being uncooperative.

Officers interviewed multiple witnesses, including Helke’s wife, who said he had been drinking Mai Tais since 5:20 p.m. A 24-year-old man said he and his girlfriend were seated next to Helke during the wedding; they watched as he became progressively intoxicated and stumbled around the venue. When he disappeared, the couple helped Helke’s wife look for him and found him in the parking lot trying to enter multiple vehicles.

As the couple was trying to convince Helke to get into the passenger seat of his vehicle, he punched the woman in the face. She stumbled backward but didn’t fall to the ground. She tried to restrain him by holding his arms behind his back, but her boyfriend separated them. Helke tried to punch him, but he blocked the strike and punched Helke in the nose with a closed fist. Helke stumbled backwards, attempted to lean against a car and fell face-first to the ground. He got up and was trying to get into the driver’s side of a white SUV, which is when police arrived.

Helke is scheduled to appear at a status conference at 11:15 a.m. Nov. 5 in Pierce County Circuit Court.