Updated Thursday -- December 27, 2007 -- 4:30pm

Madison: The man Tasered in the West Towne Food Court on Christmas Eve has been through this before.

NBC 15 has learned a nearly identical incident occurred in 1998 in the East Towne Food Court.

The 911 call came in on Christmas Eve on a mall pay phone. An anonymous caller said a man had a silver gun tucked into his waist band and was standing in the middle of the West Towne Mall food court.

Madison Police responded and saw Major Lemon. "They saw a person matching that description in the middle of the food court," says Sgt. John Rife.

A Madison Police source says normally police would approach with guns drawn, but they didn't because the mall was crowded, so they decided to get the suspect's hands before he could pull a weapon.

"He had his hands in his pockets. They didn't know if he was armed or not," says Sgt. Rife.

Lori Edwards was eating at the food court that day and witnessed the whole thing. She says police moved in with no warning. "They put their hands in his pockets, underneath his coat. He was like, what's going on? Another police officer came and I could see what looked to be a taser in his hand. He came in with a calm down, calm down, and then hit him in the back of the right leg, by the upper hamstring. They both hit the floor."

We interviewed Marisa Lemon, Major's wife, after the incident. "My husband and me were standing in the mall at the food court. The next thing I know policeman came up and started grabbing his hand and trying to put it in the back. The next thing I know we're put on the floor and we're tased."

Police did not find a gun, but still cited Major Lemon for resisting arrest.

This was not the first time this has happened to Lemon. According to Police records, a similar incident happened during the lunch rush on December 30th, 1998.

An anonymous caller used a pay phone in the East Towne Mall food court to report a man with a gun at his side. The description again matched Major Lemon, and police approached silently and grabbed his hands.

Lemon resisted and was hit with pepper spray. Again, police found no gun.

We had scheduled two different interviews with Major Lemon to talk about these cases, but he did not show up for either.

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Updated Monday -- December 24, 2007 -- 5:51pm

Madison police who used a stun gun on an unarmed man this week are defending their use of force, even as the man's family threatens a lawsuit against the department.

An officer used a taser, Monday, on a man identified as 44-year-old Major Lemon. Police responding to a report of a man with a gun say Lemon resisted attempts to escort him from West Towne Mall.

Police Sergeant John Rife says officers tried to get information first, and only escalated the situation when they had no choice.

Tara Emery-Walls is the general manager at the nearby Arby's. She thinks officers overreacted. She says there were a lot of people shopping there, including kids.

One stun-gun probe hit Lemon and the other hit his wife. Relatives say the family is now considering a lawsuit.

Lemon was cited for resisting and obstructing arrest.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Posted Monday --- December 24, 2007 -- 1:36pm

Concerns over a reported handgun lead to police tasering a man at West Towne Mall.

On Monday afternoon squad cars surrounded an area near the food court.

Madison police got a call saying there was a man with a silver handgun in the food court area at West Towne Mall.

Police arrived and found a man matching the description of the person who supposedly had a gun.

Police say they went up to the man and tried to talk to him and the situation escalated.

John Rife of the Madison Police Department says, "There was some discussion and it appeared he was going to try to punch one of the officers. Their feet were all full of snow as you can see out here so they were trying to hold onto him and were unable to do so because of the snow and wet conditions."

Police ended up using a taser to take control of the situation.

The man's family members say police acted inappropriately. The man is identified as 44 year-old Major T. Lemon.

Police did not find a weapon on Lemon.

Police say he appeared to be fine, but they were taking him to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

He was taken to St. Mary's to get checked out but has since been released.

Police say they were focusing on the safety of the Lemons, other mall patrons and officers.

The incident is still under investigation.