Madison TV Reporter Arrested

Police Say WKOW Reporter Was Armed With Semiautomatic Handgun And Had Drugs
Channel3000.com

BELOIT, Wis. -- Madison television reporter Joe Mason is in custody after allegedly being armed and causing a disturbance outside a Beloit radio station Friday.

Mason is the Rock County reporter for WKOW-TV, Channel 27 News.

Beloit police said Mason was exhibiting "unusual and threatening behavior" and was armed with a semiautomatic handgun. In addition to the gun, Mason also had marijuana on him, police said. He faces tentative charges of carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct while armed and possession of marijuana.

Mason was on the job for WKOW-TV when police said he initiated a bizarre series of confrontations. Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler told WISC-TV in Madison that Mason got into an argument with a community center director earlier in the day, and then entered the radio station with a semiautomatic handgun.

All but a news anchor were evacuated from the building, police said.

A number of officers responded, and after 15 minutes, Mason was arrested after getting behind the wheel of a channel 27 news car. That's when police also discovered the marijuana, they said.

WKOW posted a short news story on its Web site at 4:21 p.m. saying Mason, whose real name is Joe Ulrey, appears to be suffering from a mental disorder and may not have been taking his medication.

According to Mason's bio on the WKOW Web site, he grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and previously worked at WBOY-TV in West Virginia as a reporter and at WGN-TV in Chicago as a weather assistant.

You gotta love it. A reporter with a gun! S