Summer of 2021

I had started seeing a woman who was local to the area and was a paramedic for one of our ambulance services in Waupaca County. She was going through a divorce with her husband, as I was also going through a divorce with my wife at the time. We both had very reputable images in the community and both of our divorces were cordial for the majority. My girlfriend’s name was Ali Krisher. Prior to Ali and I starting to see each other, she got into a verbal altercation with her husband. Local law enforcement was called and responded to their residence. Law enforcement determined that there was not probable cause for an arrest and that it was just a verbal argument. There are police reports that document this.

After a couple months of seeing each other, my patrol Sergeant, Sgt. Krueger, asked if I could meet him in his office one night. As I entered into his office, he stated, “Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble. I just want to have a man to man conversation with you. Nothing about work.” I obliged, since I enjoyed working with this Sergeant. In our conversation, he told me that he had responded to the verbal altercation between Ali and her husband and that both parties were very worked up that night and very well could have been arrested. He said “if I were you moving forward, I wouldn’t keep your squad parked at her house anymore.” We talked about how it would suck if her soon to be ex-husband would accuse me of doing something inappropriate with her while on duty. He said “just until things calm down in the divorce”. I thanked him for the advice and stopped seeing her while I was on duty.

Approximately September 15th, 2021, Ali’s daughter was having a birthday party and I had to work. I decided to check on duty from her house and stay for a few minutes for the birthday party. I ended up staying for about 30-45 minutes, which is nothing out of the ordinary for officers stopping at home or stopping at people’s houses while on duty.

I ended up being placed under investigation and was ultimately issued a written warning in my file for insubordination for violating Sgt. Krueger’s order. I had tried explaining that this was a “man to man” conversation that we had and I did not take it as an “order”. Sgt. Krueger even admits and apologizes later for confusing me and making it sound like it was a man to man conversation. He said he wished that he would have been clear that his order was the one part that wasn’t man to man. I also got written up for spending too much time in the Weyauwega area, which is where my house was. I explained that due to my divorce and my wife attempting to take the kids away from me, I was trying to stop home to see them as often as I could.

I felt as if this was a type of harassment as well because there are several deputies who park in the same areas of the county for hours on end and they never get talked to about it. I also know of another member of the sheriff’s office who was going through a divorce and they didn’t have any special rules that they had to follow regarding dating in their personal lives. How is this not harassment?? Furthermore, just recently, a dispatcher and a deputy got caught having an affair. The dispatcher’s husband was also a fellow deputy. Neither of these individuals were given an order to avoid one another while on-duty.

Admin had told me that moving forward, my directive was to not have any in-person contact with Ali while I am either on-duty, in uniform, or in my squad car. (See Personnel file discipline)

Fall of 2021

One night when I was busy at work, I had forgot to pack my food for dinner. Since I was in an area where I couldn’t stop at my house, I asked Ali to bring me my dinner. She and I met up in a parking lot in Manawa at the Rodeo Grounds. We chatted for approximately 15 minutes (I was in my squad, she was in her car) before Sgt. Repinski pulled in and observed us talking to each other from our separate vehicles. I told him that I knew I had a standing order not to have contact with Ali while on-duty and that I knew I was most likely in trouble. He had contacted the Captain and I got sent home and placed on administrative leave, pending another investigation.

Upon the completion of an internal interview, I was placed on a 5 day unpaid suspension for insubordination.  

May of 2023

I was responding to an ATV rollover crash with injuries when I was traveling too fast around a corner. I ended up losing control of my squad and entered into the ditch, striking several small trees, causing minor damage to my squad. Thank goodness no one was injured.

Upon the completion of an internal interview, I was placed on a 2 day unpaid suspension for operating without due regard.

Conclusion

Through-out my disciplines, I have never taken short-cuts, shaved information, or was dishonest in any way. I always owned up to my actions, even if I knew it could cost me my job by doing so. I would rather lose my job for telling the truth than to lose my career for being dishonest. With the exception of crashing my squad, I felt I was treated much differently than other employees at the Sheriff’s Office. I had a different set of rules to follow, just because I was going through a divorce, from others who could do the same things without repercussions.

This should show the history and paint a picture of the unfairness and harassment I have endured while working for the sheriff’s office.