Law Enforcement

n August 18 - An officer took a complaint from a man who owned a property in Colby. The man said he had a large concrete parking stop across the curb line to the east of the property. The man said that the concrete had been moved and he suspected the neighbors as they drove onto their lawn using that area of curb line.

The officer located the concrete that the man had been speaking of. The officer spoke with the resident that was outside at the time and asked if they had moved the barrier. She said that they did occasionally drive through there but there was always plenty of room that they did not need to move the concrete.

The officer estimated the concrete to be six or seven feet long and 500 pounds. The officer did not believe that it could be moved a full two feet without heavy equipment. There was also no dead grass mark that showed where it had been previously placed and the officer estimated that it had been moved in the spring time of this year.

The officer called the Colby Public Works Department and asked if they were aware of any city worker moving the block as it looked like it could be considered an alleyway entrance that the man had partially blocked. The employee said that he was not aware of anyone moving the block.

n August 18 - An officer was dispatched for a report of a vehicle that was swerving from the ditch line of the roadway to the opposite curb in Colby. The complainant noted that the vehicle turned into the trailer park in Colby.

The officer conduced a registration check of the vehicle and found the owner’s address. The officer located the vehicle at the address and noticed that the vehicle’s lights were still on.

The officer made contact with the driver and passenger. The officer observed two open beer cans in the front cupholders of the vehicle. The officer asked the driver to hand him the beer cans and the officer emptied them on the ground. The driver had a hard time completing sentences when speaking with the officer and said his brother was sick.

The driver said he was coming from work in Abbotsford. The officer noticed the strong odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle and observed the man to have glossy eyes and slow speech. The officer asked the man how much he had to drink and the man said three beers.

The officer got the man’s identification and conducted a records check of the driver. He came back with no driver’s license issued. The officer asked the driver if he would complete field sobriety tests to ensure he was okay to drive. The man said he would. The man went through the tests and then agreed to perform a preliminary breath test. The result of the PBT was 0.251.

The officer placed the man under arrest for operating while under the influence. The man was issued citations for operating while under the influence, operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration and keeping open intoxicants in a motor vehicle. The man was then released to a responsible party.

n August 19 - An officer took a complaint from a man who lives in Colby. The man said he had a company that had done about two jobs in Abbotsford and Colby. The man said afterwards, he had requested to put up advertising signs for the business in their yards to which they agreed. The man said he had a sign in his yard that was taken around the time of Colby Cheese Days and he took the loss thinking it was a drunk person.

The man drove past the other two spots where he had signs and found that the signs were gone. The man said he asked property owners if they had removed the signs and they said they had not. The man thought that another company was possibly taking them as he was their competition. The man filled out a lack of consent form.

n August 20 - An officer was on patrol in the city of Abbotsford when he observed a vehicle to be traveling with no lights on. The officer followed the vehicle and watched the vehicle apply its brakes, merge into a turn lane and activate its blinker as if to turn, then quickly turn the blinker off and corrected its lane of travel. The officer performed a traffic stop of the vehicle and conducted a records check of the vehicle registration.

The officer approached the vehicle and the male driver said he was going to need a supervisor as he felt he didn’t do anything wrong. The driver went on to say he did make a mistake at the turn but stated the dash camera should show that he did nothing wrong. The male driver went on to say he does not like cops and that he would not continue this conversation without a supervisor.

The officer introduced himself to the man and said he was pulled over because he did not have any lights on in hours of darkness. The officer asked for the man’s license and proof of insurance information. The man said he needed a supervisor. The officer informed the man that this was a small town and there was no supervisor working right now. The officer called for another CAPD officer to assist.

The officer once again told the man he was driving without any lights on and that’s while he was pulled over. The man said he turned them off while driving and that he was underneath street lights. The officer asked why he would turn his lights off while driving and he said, “the things I do are my business.”

The officer again asked the man to identify himself. The man said he felt he was being discriminated against and wanted to see proof that he was driving without lights on. The second officer arrived at the location.

Before the second officer could introduce himself, the man said to him that he did not do anything wrong and that he would need to see proof that he did something wrong.

The second officer introduced himself and told the man he could contest the validity of the traffic stop at a later date, which is his right. The officer went on to say to the driver that he did not have the right to refuse to identify himself during a traffic stop. The officer explained to the driver that law enforcement has privileges given to them to identify a driver during a stop. The officer explained to the driver that if he continues to refuse to identify himself, the officers would transport him to the Marathon County Jail.

The driver said he would have to protect himself moving forward. The officer asked what the driver meant by that. The driver said, “anything you can think of.” The man continued to resist officers and would not provide the officers with any identifying information.

The man kept saying he did nothing wrong and the second officer asked the man if they showed him the dash cam footage, if that would be helpful. The man said it would. The initial officer returned to his vehicle and recorded the dash cam footage with his phone. He then went back to the man and showed him the footage. The man was still persistent that he did nothing wrong, saying he was under a street light. The officers provided the man with a sheet that contained Wis statute 347.07(1) which pertained to driving in hours of darkness.

Eventually, the second officer was able to get a name and birth date from the man. The other officer looked up the information on the Wisconsin DOJ system and no return was found. The officer attempted various different versions of the man’s name and birthdate but could not get a return. Three more officers arrived from the Spencer Police Department, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office and Owen Police Department.

The CAPD officers briefed the other officers of the situation. A spike strip was deployed in front of the car while an officer pulled up behind the vehicle to attempt to keep the man from fleeing.

The CAPD officer that pulled the man over reapproached the vehicle and asked the man to reidentify himself. The man said he had already done that. The man eventually gave the officer a food stamp card with a name on it. While looking through his wallet, the officer noticed what looked like a driver’s license in the wallet and asked the man for it. The man declined saying he gave the officer all he needed.

The officer asked if there was any other information that would help them identify the man. After a backand- forth with the man, the CAPD officers asked the man to exit the vehicle. He complied.

The driver began getting agitated and started yelling at officers, telling them to step away from his vehicle. The driver again pulled out his wallet and rifled through it. The officer again asked if he could see the man’s driver’s license and he just smiled and put the wallet back in his pocket. The driver said, “this is going to have to end with an arrest.” The officer told the man it did not have to. The man began yelling a different date of birth than what he initially provided officers. The officer ran that name and date of birth combination through the Wisconsin DOJ system and got a return on the man. The officer began writing the man a citation for operating while suspended.

While doing so, the officer heard the other officers telling the man to take his hands out of his pockets and others yelling. The officer went back to the group and asked the man if he would let one of the officers perform a weapons frisk. The man declined and kept arguing with officers. The initial CAPD officer told the other CAPD officer that he wished to arrest the man because of the obstruction and how disorderly the man had become. Another officer arrived.

The officers advised the man he was under arrest and asked him to turn around and place his hands behind his back. The man asked why and began to tense up. The officer said “we will tell you in a second,” and grabbed the man’s arm. Another officer grabbed the man’s other arm and the man resisted physically. The officers assisted the man to the ground and the man kept his arms tight to his chest while officers attempted to get his arms behind his back.

The officers tried to place him in custody for several minutes but were unsuccessful. An officer deployed pepper spray into the man’s face. The man continued to resist. An officer advised the man they would tase him if he did not comply. The man continued to resist. The man was tased once and still resisted. The man was tased a second time and he finally relaxed and officers were able to place the man in two sets of handcuffs.

While waiting for EMS to arrive, the man’s demeanor changed and he became compliant. The officers helped wipe the man’s eyes and face to help alleviate the pain from the pepper spray. One of the CAPD officers grabbed the man’s belongings out of his vehicle and offered to bring them with to the Marathon County Jail.

The officer completed citations fro operating while suspended and a written warning for operating without required lamps lighted. The officer requested charges for resisting or obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct.

n August 20 - An officer took a report of a gas drive off from a gas station in Abbotsford. The employee gave the officer a receipt that showed an outstanding amount of $70 and a description of the vehicle. The man left the business with his driver’s license and told them that he would come in the next morning to pay for the fuel. The man told the employees that he was staying at the Clark County Rehab Center.

The officer called the phone number that was left and reached the voice mail of a woman. The officer left a message and asked for a call back. The officer called Clark County Rehab Center to see if the man was there. The woman the officer spoke to said they never had anyone in their facility with that name. The officer needed to follow up with the business.