Police had to help remove a 170-pound white-tailed deer that crashed into a Janesville motel.

Officers were called Thursday morning after people saw a male deer running around a parking lot and ramming into cars at a Target store. The deer then ran across a highway, vaulted through a closed, ground-level window and entered a room at a Super 8 Motel.

The manager says the room was empty.

Authorities removed the deer shortly before noon.

Thanks to The Wisconsin Times for sharing this story!

ELKHORN — A 33-year-old Delavan woman wants $350,000 for her claim that she was infected with genital herpes by a 35-year-old Edgerton man during a sexual tryst in Janesville, according to Walworth County court records.

The woman contends in her lawsuit that the man was legally liable for knowingly exposing an uninfected and unknowing partner to the sexually transmitted disease.

The sexual encounter happened after the couple had spent the day together in Madison, according to the lawsuit.

The woman was married when she had sex with the man, and he was married, too, according to the lawsuit. Neither could be reached for comment.

A maintenance man under contract with Walmart told police he didn’t want to go work on Thursday.

Instead of calling in sick, however, Francisco J. Vargas, 29, of Detroit, Mich., called in a bomb threat, according to police reports.

The Janesville Police Department responded to Walmart, 3800 Deerfield Drive, after several 911 calls were made to the Rock County Communications Center. The caller “threatened acts against the building,” a news release from the police department said.

After police reported the threat, the store’s manager made the decision to evacuate.

The business was closed for about 90 minutes while officers secured the area and located the suspect.

Vargas is a contract worker for Walmart and was scheduled to do some work at the store, said Sgt. Chad Pearson.

“He was trying to get out of doing the work,” Pearson said.

Vargas was arrested for two felony counts of reporting false emergencies to 911, and one felony count of causing a bomb scare.

An 8-year-old Janesville boy called 911 and said his brother had taken a bag of potato chips and wasn’t sharing.

• A Janesville man started a fight at a bar because someone called him a Justin Bieber look-alike. He was ticketed for disorderly conduct.

• A driver was ticketed after revving his engine and squealing his tires. He told the officer, "I got pissed that my car died, so I gunned it."

• A young boy called 911 because he wanted his father to go to jail. The dad had done nothing illegal.

• A disorderly conduct complaint was made after a 10-year-old boy began banging on things and defecating in his room.

• A Janesville man stole his grandma's car and damaged it. He was arrested.

Ted Sullivan can be reached at (608) 755-8253, tsullivan@gazettextra.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook at Rock County Crime.

Todd Herrington didn't expect to hear an answer as he cleared 2 feet of snow off the face that was buried below.

"I said, 'Joe,' " Herrington said. "I just figured I was saying it to a dead person."

Joe Latta answered.

"I couldn't believe a voice came out of there," Herrington said Wednesday. "I really thought he was frozen stiff. His arm wasn't moving, just sticking straight out. I have no idea, under 2 feet of snow, how you would breathe."

Latta, 66, told rescuers he ventured outside of his Rockshire Drive home about 5 a.m. Wednesday to get the mail, fell in the driveway and couldn't get up. Latta lives alone. Snow likely drifted as he lay there on his back in temperatures that dipped to the low teens. At about 6:45 a.m., snowplows pushed up more snow, covering all of Latta except a gloved hand.

Police officer Todd Schumann said Latta was covered with 29 inches of snow with probably another 4 to 6 feet below him.

About 9 a.m., Betsy Nelson, a neighbor across the street, noticed what she assumed was a piece of garbage or a little animal jumping on the drift. But something made her uneasy. Perhaps it was the garage door that was usually closed but this morning was open. Nelson hauled out a pair of binoculars.

She called the Herringtons next door.

"You guys are going to think I'm crazy," she recalled saying. "But I think there's a hand sticking from the snow."

Herrington had just finished his shift as a firefighter and was snowblowing his driveway. He crossed the street. When he found the glove, it wasn't moving.

He cleared snow from the hand so he could work his way to a head. Snow was stuffed in Latta's nostrils and was packed behind his lenses. Sally Herrington brought over a shovel, and her husband carefully shoveled snow from Latta's chest. Neighbors later found his ball cap blown two houses down.

Schumann, next on the scene, quickly dug a trench so emergency workers could get to Latta to help.

Latta was shivering violently and was stiff, Schumann said. He saw no footprints leading to the spot where the man lay. Latta told Schumann he didn't recall going unconscious. He remembered the snow pushing over him, burying him.

Herrington said Latta's clothes were dry underneath and speculated that the snow captured his body heat.

Latta was hypothermic, and Lt. Patrick Kilbane of the fire department said he was surprised he could understand his rescuers.

But how did he breathe?

"Good question," Kilbane said.

"The poor guy couldn't talk, he was shivering so bad," he said.

But Latta wasn't hurt and was breathing OK.

"What would have been going through that poor guy's mind?" Herrington wondered. "Am I going to freeze first or suffocate first?"

Herrington said it is a miracle that Latta, who was treated at and released from Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, is alive. Several times Wednesday, Herrington stooped down, weighing the snow in his hand.

On a normal day, Nelson would have been at work long before 9 a.m.

"Someone was really looking out for him today," Herrington said.

• A "person down" was reported in Janesville. The person hadn't moved for 20 minutes. Police and fire responded to find that the person was taking a nap.

• Moooooo! A 150-gallon milk tank was stolen from a farm along Highway 14.

• A man charged with possession of improvised explosives told investigators he was a "pyro" who tried to make a "little thing that blows up," according to the criminal complaint.

• R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A battery was reported at Road Dawg Saloon. Members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang are suspected of assaulting a patron after he disrespected them.

• A caller told police a Janesville man was keeping chickens in his garage, violating the livestock and poultry ordinance.

Ted Sullivan can be reached at (608) 755-8253, tsullivan@gazettextra.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook at Rock County Crime.

The black-throated monitor lizard that has been loose in Janesville since at least Sept. 28 has been caught and is being held at the Rock County Humane Society.

Janesville police used a dog snare to catch the monitor at 5:46 p.m. Wednesday at 613 Williams St., Sgt. Mark Raztlaff said. That is the same yard in which it first was spotted.

Several people reported seeing the monitor in the area of Williams Street and Memorial Avenue last week. At least one person reported seeing it escape into a sewer.

The monitor will be collected and cared for by a local reptile rescue, humane society operations manager Jim Hurley said. The monitor appeared unharmed, although it will require a reptile professional to be sure, he said.

Read the original story about the missing lizard or watch the aaaavideo about the giant lizard sightings in Janesville.

Janesville police are seeking the whereabouts of a large monitor lizard sighted twice Tuesday.

Amber Downing reported the initial sighting at 3:35 p.m. in the 600 block of Williams St., said Lt. Terrence Sheridan.

Six hours later, Tracy Smith was driving in the area of Hyatt and Thomas Streets when the headlights of his vehicle caught a “large green lizard 4.5 to 5 feet long” in his line of vision, he told police.

When police arrived on Williams Street, the lizard was gone.

Later, Smith saw the lizard escape into the sewer drain where he was.

Police urge anyone who sees this lizard to call (608) 757-2244.

“We ask that people in the area keep an eye out and if they see it don’t approach it. Give us a call so we can come and catch the thing,” Sheridan said.

Submitted by Amber Downing

View Lizard sightings in a larger map

Thanks to @RockCountyCrime for the tip!