Saturday, October 30, 2004

10302004 - Officer Steve Martinez - Arrested For Assault - Muskegon PD

Muskegon Police Officer Steve Martinez was arrested and charged for misdemeanor domestic violence. Martinez was dismissed from the Muskegon PD, after an internal investigation into the assault. Muskegon's Director of Public Safety, Tony Kleibecker stated, "This type of behavior will not be tolerated...By engaging in this misconduct, he has forfeited the privilege of serving our community as a police officer."










Police officer arrested on an assault charge
Monday, November 01, 2004
By Lisa Medendorp
THE MUSKEGON CHRONICLE
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1099334861162780.xml

A Muskegon police officer was arrested for domestic violence Saturday when his live-in girlfriend called 911 following an alleged assault.

Officer Steve Martinez, 32, was lodged in the Ottawa County Jail and later bonded out. A warrant charging the nine-year veteran with domestic assault with issued Sunday, according to the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office.

Arraignment on the misdemeanor charge is expected later this month. No date was available this morning.

Tony Kleibecker, Muskegon's director of public safety, said the officer has been suspended without pay pending the results of an internal investigation. That investigation is expected to conclude later this week.

The woman, who lives with Martinez in the 700 block of West Grand Avenue, called Central Dispatch between 1-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Kleibecker said. "She said she had been assaulted and the person who assaulted her was one of our officers," he said.

She was advised to come to the Muskegon Police Department. Once there, the decision was made to call the Michigan State Police in to handle the investigation, Kleibecker said. He said the woman had physical injuries, but she did not require medical treatment.

State police this morning said the woman had facial injuries.

Kleibecker said the two argued and the argument became physical. He said the officer did not have any apparent injuries.

After state police took a taped statement, "we went to the residence and arrested him for domestic violence," Kleibecker said. He said the officer's service weapons also were confiscated.

The internal investigation will run separately, but parallel to any criminal investigation, Kleibecker said.




















Officer pleads not guilty to domestic violence
Thursday, November 04, 2004
By Lisa Medendorp
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1099586799290400.xml

A Muskegon police officer who was arrested for domestic violence last weekend appeared for 60th District Court arraignment Tuesday.

Steve Martinez, 32, was suspended without pay following his arrest Saturday and posted a $300 surety bond after being taken to the Ottawa County Jail.

Martinez was given an arraignment date of Nov. 15 on the misdemeanor charge, but attorney David Shafer had his client appear Tuesday before visiting Judge Richard J. Pasarela. The officer entered a not guilty plea.

Martinez, who works an overnight shift, is accused of assaulting his girlfriend -- hitting her with his fists and kicking her -- after returning home from socializing at the Marine Tap Room, according to a Michigan State Police report.

Shafer, after noting that "in our great country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty," added: "We believe that after a reasonable trier of fact hears all the evidence, Mr. Martinez will be acquitted."

Although the 22-year-old woman contacted Muskegon police after the alleged assault, the investigation was turned over to state police to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

The state police report said the woman had obvious injuries, including an abrasion to the right side of her face, a swollen lip and a swollen eye. The same report also said Martinez had a chin laceration and abrasions on the underside of his right forearm.

Tony Kleibecker, Muskegon's director of public safety, said he hopes to have the department's internal investigation completed by the end of the week, and a decision about the officer's status could be made next week. Shafer said Martinez has a nine-year history with the Muskegon Police Department.

"He's well thought of by fellow officers, he's committed to serving the public, and he sincerely hopes that after the criminal case is behind him, he will be able to continue to serve the public."

The assault allegedly occurred early Saturday afternoon at the apartment Martinez shared with his girlfriend at 750 W. Grand. The state police report said the two had been dating since late July, but that he had just moved in with her the day before the incident.

The state police report said Martinez called his girlfriend from the Marine Tap Room, 1983 Lakeshore, wanting her to join him. She told the state police trooper who interviewed her that he wanted her to drive him home. She went into the bar and was introduced to a relative of the officer's as well as Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington, who owns the bar. She allegedly left the bar because of Martinez's behavior toward her, and they wound up driving home separately.

Kleibecker said earlier that the two argued and the argument became physical. She alleged in the state police report that he punched her in the face and kicked her, pulling out her false hair braids as well.

The state police report said she was able to get away from him and ran out of the house to get help.

Another tenant in the apartment building told police about hearing a commotion in the apartment shared by Martinez and the woman. Martinez chose not to make a statement to investigating officers. He remains free on bond.

A condition of the bond that he have no contact with the victim was dropped at her request, court records show.

During an interview with state police, the woman said she had been"scared," and "thought she was going to die." But she also said she did not want Martinez to lose his job according to the report.

A pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 16 before Magistrate John Wiewiora. Conviction on an assault and battery/domestic violence charge carries a possible sentence of 93 days in the county jail.














Cop charged in assault fired from city position
Thursday, November 11, 2004
By Lisa Medendorp
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1100191519192560.xml

A 32-year-old Muskegon police officer who entered a not guilty plea last week to a domestic violence charge was fired Wednesday.

Steve Martinez, who had nine years on the force, was "terminated" after Director of Public Safety Tony Kleibecker said he reviewed his department's internal affairs report.

Martinez was arraigned Nov. 2 in 60th District Court on the misdemeanor assault charge. He is charged with assaulting his girlfriend on Oct. 30 at the apartment they shared at 750 W. Grand Avenue and had been suspended without pay since the incident.

Kleibecker said earlier that the department's internal investigation of the incident was separate from the criminal case. The internal affairs report was turned over to Kleibecker Nov. 4.

"This type of behavior will not be tolerated," Kleibecker said. "By engaging in this misconduct, he has forfeited the privilege of serving our community as a police officer."

Kleibecker also said Martinez has not had any disciplinary action taken against him during the 41/2 years Kleibecker has headed the police department.

Officer Michael Addicott, local president of the Police Officers Labor Council, said a grievance will be filed by the union on Martinez's termination within the next 12 days. "We will file the grievance with the understanding that any possible arbitration has to be after the criminal matter is resolved," he said.

Kleibecker said there was no need to wait for the court case to conclude before taking action agaist Martinez because of the information that was uncovered during the internal investigation. He declined to discuss specifics of what the internal investigation found.

"For the internal review, I have to take into consideration the facts that we've put together through our investigation, look at the totality of the circumstances and make a decision based upon that," Kleibecker said. "For me, there's not a legal requirement of a certain level of proof necessary."

Addicott said Martinez denies the allegations and wants to continue to be a Muskegon police officer. "In the grievance, the request will be for his return to the position of police officer, that he receive any money lost and all benefits, and that the matter be expunged from his personnel file."

Martinez was fired following a hearing Wednesday morning, during which his attorney, David Shafer, was present. Shafer said he was aware of alleged reasons for Martinez's termination, and that he found it "embarrassing that the chief law enforcement officer for the city of Muskegon sits as the judge, jury and executioner on a case that's never been decided in a court of law."

Shafer, who has represented other Muskegon officers who were disciplined by the department, added: "It's no secret that morale is at an all-time low among the road patrol officers."

The attorney said the current administration at the department was "either on a house-cleaning mission or has very little concern for the rights of officers."

Shafer said one of the main reasons for Martinez's termination was because department officials believed he was dishonest in answering questions as to whether somebody leaked information to him from a department report prior to his statement to internal affairs.

"This is not true," Shafer said. "I've been involved in a number of cases both representing police officers and pursuing officers for misconduct. In this particular case, the (internal) investigation and termination occurred much more swiftly than in any of those cases," Shafer said.

Martinez remains free on $300 bond.
















Police officer’s trial set for January
Muskegon Chronicle, The (MI)
November 17, 2004 
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
The trial of a recently fired veteran Muskegon police officer charged with domestic violence has been set for Jan. 6.

Steve Martinez’s trial date was set after a pretrial hearing Monday. Martinez, 32, is charged with misdemeanor assault, accused of assaulting his girlfriend Oct. 30 at the apartment they shared at 750 W. Grand.

Martinez was “terminated” last week after Director of Public Safety Tony Kleibecker said he reviewed the department’s internal affairs report. Martinez has denied the allegations.


















Charge against ex-cop dismissed
Muskegon Chronicle, The (MI)
May 6, 2005 
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
The attorney for a former Muskegon police officer said his client has been vindicated because the domestic violence charge that led to the officer’s firing was dismissed Thursday by a District Court judge.

Steve Martinez, 32, was arrested for the misdemeanor offense on Oct. 30, 2004, after his girlfriend told Muskegon police she had been assaulted at the apartment they shared on West Grand Avenue.

Martinez entered a not guilty plea at 60th District Court arraignment on Nov. 2.

At first suspended without pay while state police investigated the criminal complaint, Martinez then was fired on Nov. 10, based in part on results of an internal investigation by his own department.

“As I’ve said from the very beginning, we were 100 percent confident that Steve Martinez would be vindicated,” said his attorney, David Shafer.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Martinez will get his job back.

A grievance was filed through the Police Officers Labor Council after Martinez was fired. In addition to wanting his job back, Martinez wants back pay and benefits and to have the incident removed from his personnel file.

An arbitration hearing has been scheduled for June 1, according to Officer Mike Addicott, union president.

Upon hearing that the criminal case against Martinez had been dismissed, Addicott said the union “hopes he’ll be reinstated before the arbitration, but if not, we’re fully prepared to go ahead with it.”

Tony Kleibecker, Muskegon’s director of public safety, said Thursday the department’s position regarding the termination has not changed.

One of the main reasons Martinez was fired was because Muskegon police officials believe he lied when he answered questions about whether someone leaked information to him from a department report prior to a statement he made during the internal affairsinvestigation. Shafer maintains that allegation is untrue.

Shafer said the police department should immediately reinstate Martinez. Police officials “rushed to judgment” in firing Martinez before the court case was decided, “and now it’s time for them to eat crow,” Shafer said.

On Thursday morning, 60th District Judge Michael J. Nolan dismissed the domestic violence charge against Martinez after the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office asked for dismissal.

Martinez’s ex-girlfriend — the alleged victim of the assault — “repeatedly refused to cooperate with prosecutors and recently was charged with a felony,” said Prosecutor Tony Tague.

Laketa Shontreece Thomas, 23, was arrested by Muskegon police on April 17 and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. She allegedly went after her mother with a knife, prosecutors said. The offense occurred at Thomas’ apartment, 750 W. Grand, according to the court file.

Thomas was arraigned before Judge Nolan on April 18, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for May 13.

The woman invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify, Tague said. “Her attorney would not even allow prosecutors to talk with her,” he added.

Earlier reports indicated that Thomas had visible injuries the day she made the domestic violence report and that she did not require hospital treatment. Those injuries included a swollen lip and eye and a facial abrasion, according to state police who investigated the case. The same report noted that Martinez had a chin laceration and abrasions on the underside of his right forearm.

Shafer said the prosecutor’s office “spent a great deal of time, energy and effort to pursue this matter. Not withstanding those efforts, the chief law enforcement officer for our county has decided that this case cannot be successfully pursued in lightof the weak evidence that would have been presented at trial.”

Tague said an earlier court ruling did not allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of alleged past abuse on the part of Martinez.
































Sunday, October 24, 2004

10242004 - Deputy Benjamin Valley - Osceola County SD










On the weekend of October 16th, an "alleged incident" occured between Osceola County Sheriff Deputy Benjamin Valley and his girlfriend.....











The weekend of October 23rd, Deputy Valley's girlfriend did not want to see him, due to the "incident" that had occured the previous weekend. Deputy Valley was arrested on October 25th, after he was caught watching his girlfriend's house. Valley was charged with felony stalking; possession of a firearm with unlawful intent and felony firearm. 










Part-time deputy arrested
Cadillac News
Oct 28, 2004
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2004/10/28/news/news04.txt

BIG RAPIDS - A 22-year-old part-time Osceola County Sheriff's Department deputy was arrested on charges of felony stalking, possession of a firearm with unlawful intent and felony firearm.

Benjamin Wayne Valley of Tustin was arrested Monday by Big Rapids Department of Public Safety after Valley was reportedly watching his ex-girlfriend's apartment on Morrison Street.

According to a Big Rapids press release, Valley traveled to Big Rapids to contact his ex-girlfriend. However, she did not want to see him due to an alleged incident that occurred the weekend before.

The incident is still under investigation and Valley will be removed from the department's roster.


Saturday, October 16, 2004

10162004 - Deputy Benjamin Valley - Osceola County SD










On the weekend of October 16th, an "alleged incident" occured between Osceola County Sheriff Deputy Benjamin Valley and his girlfriend.....











The weekend of October 23rd, Deputy Valley's girlfriend did not want to see him, due to the "incident" that had occured the previous weekend. Deputy Valley was arrested on October 25th, after he was caught watching his girlfriend's house. Valley was charged with felony stalking; possession of a firearm with unlawful intent and felony firearm. 










Part-time deputy arrested
Cadillac News
Oct 28, 2004
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2004/10/28/news/news04.txt

BIG RAPIDS - A 22-year-old part-time Osceola County Sheriff's Department deputy was arrested on charges of felony stalking, possession of a firearm with unlawful intent and felony firearm.

Benjamin Wayne Valley of Tustin was arrested Monday by Big Rapids Department of Public Safety after Valley was reportedly watching his ex-girlfriend's apartment on Morrison Street.

According to a Big Rapids press release, Valley traveled to Big Rapids to contact his ex-girlfriend. However, she did not want to see him due to an alleged incident that occurred the weekend before.

The incident is still under investigation and Valley will be removed from the department's roster.


Thursday, October 14, 2004

10142004 - Flint PD Officer Antonio Barber - Terminated







IN 2004, OFFICER ANTONIO WAS FIRED FROM THE FLINT POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR TAKING A VIDEO GAME DURING A DRUG RAID.....


....IN JULY 2008, BARBER HELD HIS GIRLFRIEND AND HER 2 SONS AT GUNPOINT DURING A DOMESTIC. BARBER RELEASED HIS HOSTAGES, AND THEN KILLED HIMSELF.

BARBER'S FATHER BLAMES THE FLINT PD FIRING OF ANTONIO BARBER FOR THE JULY 2008 DEADLY DOMESTIC.










Cop fired for allegedly stealing game during raid
Flint Journal
Oct. 14, 2004
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/2008/07/flint_journal_files_articles_related_to_antonio_barber.html

FLINT, Michigan - The temptation of the popular "Madden 2005" video game has cost an undercover narcotics officer his job.

A Flint police officer was fired Wednesday and now faces criminal charges after he allegedly stole the game during a drug raid last week.

But a union leader said the officer, Antonio Barber, denies he stole the game."

Officer Barber vehemently denies this, " said Keith Speer, president of the Flint Police Officers Association. "He believes he may have been set up."

Speer, however, said he expects to see more complaints or allegations of misconduct against other special operations officers in the future. But the problems start at the top, Speer said, and he's concerned that individual officers might be singled out unfairly. "I've got officers coming out of the woodwork who worked down in special operations and say, 'Let me tell you a story about this and that.' If we're going to clean house, let's clean the whole house."

Barber was fired Wednesday, the same day he was arraigned on larceny charges in Flint District Court.

Flint Police Chief Gary Hagler said the seven-year officer allegedly took the game during an Oct. 5 raid on a home on Damon Street.

"His activity was apparent to sergeants on scene," Hagler said.

The city's internal affairs and detective bureau were immediately called in, and the officer was booked on theft charges that night, Hagler said.

Barber had not been back to duty since the investigation began, Hagler said.

Speer said the union has shown good faith by dropping grievances over several discharges that were justifiable. The union went to arbitration five times this summer and won all of them, he said.












Charges latest blow to cops' image
Flint Journal
Oct. 4, 2005
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/2008/07/flint_journal_files_articles_related_to_antonio_barber.html

FLINT, Michigan - Two Flint police officers accused of stealing money and drugs are the latest but not the first to tarnish the department's reputation.

In recent years, Flint officers have been accused of soliciting sex on the job, stealing a video game and beating a handcuffed man. They represent a small but all-too-visible part of the police force.

Flint Journal extras
Policing the police Recent incidents involving Flint police officers:

• LAWRENCE E. THOMAS: Put on 2 years' probation in December after pleading no contest to charges he packaged marijuana at his home and sold $100 worth to an informant. Also acquitted of assaulting a boy who threw a snowball at his car while off-duty, but the city paid $30,000 to the family of two boys involved in the incident.

• JEFF HAZZARD: Resigned earlier this year. The city paid $175,000 in settlements related to an incident in which men accused Hazzard and other officers of brutalizing suspects.

• TONY M. JONES: Sentenced to federal prison last year after pleading guilty to gambling conspiracy in a case that included allegations he used his job to protect illegal card and dice games. He was fired by the department.

• ANTONIO BARBER: An undercover narcotics officer, he was fired last year for allegedly stealing a Madden 2005 video game during a raid on a house.

• SCOTT BAKER: In August, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge for allegedly propositioning two women for sex while on duty in November 2003. If he stays out of trouble, the case will be dismissed in February, leaving his criminal record clean. As part of the deal, he resigned and will not seek reinstatement.

• JOHN M. SMITH: Pleaded guilty in September 2003 to disorderly behavior and assault and battery for striking his girlfriend and another woman with a wooden table leg during an argument. He was fired.

• OFFICERS CHRIS MARK AND RODNEY COOPER: Fired for allegedly violating department rules. But both were returned to the force through arbitration.

"I know the police department is a damn mess," Council President Johnnie Coleman said.

Fired by the department Monday were Officers Joseph T. Lechota, 29, of Flushing and Patrick M. Majestic, 36, of Swartz Creek. The two are accused of drug delivery, evidence tampering and misconduct in office and face pretrial hearings on the criminal charges this week in Flint District Court.

The pair are the latest in a series of Flint officers to resign or be fired for alleged misconduct over the past several years, although at least two of the fired officers regained their jobs through arbitration.

Some say police officers deal every day with the underbelly of society - and temptation.

"Police officers are virtually always bombarded throughout their career with big ethical issues," said Bruce Benson, a former deputy chief in Flint who now is a criminal justice associate professor at Michigan State University.

Still, Benson said his own research in Flint proves most officers have the best intentions. "The people in those jobs are there because they want to make a difference," he said.

Officers - current and former - bristle at the implication that the problems are anything but isolated incidents.

"It's tragic because I know these guys (in Flint). They are good officers, doing good work," said Brian Morley, an officer in Flint for four years and now a criminal defense attorney. "It's unfair. It's tough on the rest of them."

So, what makes a cop go bad? "I don't know. I wish I did," Benson said.

Every case is different, but a report to Congress in 1998 said profit, power and a sense of vigilante justice come into play in drug-related police corruption. Age and level of education also can be factors, it said.

Coleman said the recent arrests show how the department lacks leadership. He said he doesn't think Deputy Chief Gary Hagler is a bad leader, but said he lacks the organizational skills needed and hasn't been able to earn the respect of the entire department.

Hagler could not be reached for comment.

But Hagler released a statement saying Majestic is married to his niece.

"I want the public to know that I immediately removed myself from the internally initiated investigation," Hagler said in the release. "The federal authorities were immediately asked to participate in this investigation."

Coleman also said that while it shouldn't be an excuse for the officers' alleged crimes, the department is hurt by offering low wages and no raises in the past seven years. He said the city should give officers a raise before the issue goes into binding arbitration."

I hope the city doesn't win," he said. "I hope the city has to pay the officers."












Ex-cop won't be charged with larceny
Flint Journal
May 18, 2006
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/2008/07/flint_journal_files_articles_related_to_antonio_barber.html

Undercover Flint police officers routinely would take video games and movies seized from suspected drug houses, and a former cop charged with larceny shouldn't be singled out for the practice, said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.

Leyton dismissed charges against Antonio P. Barber after determining the officer was "borrowing" a video game, not stealing it.

Now cleared of felony charges, Barber believes he should be returned to the force, his attorney says. "My belief is he expects to be put back on duty," said attorney Dennis R. Lazar.

Lazar said Barber deserves back pay for the 19 months following his wrongful firing.

Leyton said he dismissed the charges against Barber, 37, of Flint, after reviewing internal affairs documents from the Flint Police Department.

"We discovered that a number of Flint police officers had borrowed DVDs (taken during raids on suspected drug houses and other places) for personal use," Leyton said.

"It would be a miscarriage of justice for Antonio Barber to be singled out for prosecution."Leyton said after reviewing the case, he discovered it was an accepted practice for undercover cops to keep video games, movies on VHS tapes or DVDs "for personal use. ""I believe that's improper," he said - but not criminal.

"I've been assured by (acting) Flint Police Chief Gary Hagler that this practice has stopped."

Hagler said he became aware that some seized videos were used by police, but he established a new policy prohibiting the personal use of any seized items.

Barber was charged with two counts of larceny from a building, 4-year felonies.

During an earlier hearing, police witnesses said Barber admitted taking a "Madden 2005" game disc after an October 2004 raid at a Damon Street drug house.

Leyton said charges were brought against Barber by former Prosecutor Arthur A. Busch, but as it went through the legal system, "I began asking questions."

Barber, a seven-year veteran at the time he was fired, is working through the Flint Police Officers Association to get his job back.

Hagler said no decision has been made yet regarding Barber's job status.

Barber has been working at a Dort Highway restaurant and attending Mott Community College since his firing, Lazar said.












Police union asks judge to open probe records
Flint Journal
July 13, 2006:
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/2008/07/flint_journal_files_articles_related_to_antonio_barber.html

FLINT, Michigan - The Flint Police Officers Association is asking a Genesee County Circuit Court judge to order the release of an internal investigation into allegations that police supervisors allowed officers to take home DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes seized in drug raids.

The union claims the city violated the state Freedom of Information Act request when it refused to give it a copy of the investigation report.

Union president Keith Speer believes the city is sitting on the report because it may contain findings that current and former supervisors were involved in the mishandling of evidence.

Former officer Antonio Barber was charged with theft and fired but, so far, no other officers have lost their jobs.

If Barber gets his job back, the union said it will drop the lawsuit. "I'm not interested in digging up old skeletons," said Speer.

So far, the city has balked at turning over the report or putting Barber back on the force.

The city fired Barber last year for taking a "Madden 2005" video game that had been seized in a drug raid.

Felony charges against Barber were dropped in May after Genesee County Prosecutor David S. Leyton said undercover Flint cops routinely borrowed video games and movies seized from suspected drug houses.

Leyton said it would have been unfair to single out Barber for the practice.

Acting Flint police Chief Gary Hagler has said he put an end to the practice when he found out about it.

Shortly after Barber's case was dismissed in May, the Flint Police Officers Association filed a FOIA for the report. The city refused, citing a provision in the law that exempts ongoing investigations.

The union contends the end of Barber's criminal case should have brought the matter to a close and filed its lawsuit late last month.

The union wants Genesee County Circuit Judge Judith A. Fullerton to order the city to release the report and pay damages.

City Attorney Trachelle Young referred questions on the lawsuit to assistant attorney Lorne Carignan, who could not be reached for comment.

Speer said the union wants to make sure Barber was not treated differently than other officers who were under investigation.

"If they only (fired) Antonio, why was he singled out?" said Speer.

The union is taking Barber's firing to arbitration, and Speer said the internal investigation could help him get his job back.

The city is expected to file a response to the lawsuit this month.













Father of Antonio Barber blames Flint Mayor Don Williamson for son's death
The Flint Journal
July 25, 2008 - 9:20 AM
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/07/father_of_antonio_barber_blame.html
MUNDY TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- A former Flint police officer who lost his job over a football video game died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot during a nearly nine-hour standoff Thursday.

Antonio Barber's father blamed the death on the city's refusal to give him his job back after theft charges against him were dropped two years ago."I blame this on the mayor of Flint," said Terry Barber, shortly after learning his son was dead about 11:15 p.m. Thursday.

"Don Williamson wouldn't let him come back to work. "But Williamson said Barber had the chance to get his job back and refused.

The city offered Barber his job and $10,000 to return, but Williamson said Barber wanted more money.

"It's an awful tragedy, but (Barber's father) should not say things that are not true," said Williamson.

The standoff at the Maple Park Terraces apartments on Maple Road near Torrey Road began about 2:30 p.m. after two teens called 911 to say they and their mother had been held hostage by Barber in the apartment for about 13 hours.

The mother ran out of the apartment when police arrived, but Barber remained inside as officers surrounded the second-floor apartment.

Unsure if anyone else was inside and told he had a 9 mm pistol, police evacuated the building along with three other apartment buildings in the complex.

Nearby day care and summer school programs were put on lockdown for a short period as the Flint Township special response team trained snipers on the building.

Negotiators spoke with Barber by cellphone but said he eventually stopped answering the phone.

His father was eventually given permission to call him, but Terry Barber said his son didn't pick up.

After calling in the Oakland County Sheriff's Department to send a robot into the apartment, investigators poked a camera into a closed bedroom and found Barber's body.

Township police Sgt. Chris Piazza said it was unknown how long Barber had been dead, but he said negotiators had not had contact with him for at least a couple of hours before he was found dead.

"No shot was heard," said Piazza, adding that the sound may have been muffled by Barber's position. An autopsy was planned for today.

Police said they believe the standoff was sparked by a relationship problem between Barber and his girlfriend, but they said details were sketchy.

Investigators will continue to interview people who knew Barber today for clues of what was going on in his life in the days prior to his death.

But Terry Barber said he believes his son's death is directly linked to the loss of a job he loved. "He always wanted to be a police officer," Barber said.

Antonio Barber was working as an undercover Flint police narcotics officer when he was fired in October 2004 for taking a "Madden 2005" video game.

Investigators alleged that Barber had stolen it during a drug raid, but his attorney said Barber had just put it in his desk and never took it home."
It was simply an error in judgment," said his attorney, Dennis Lazar.

Lazar said Barber was devastated by his firing and felt he had not done anything improper.

The seven-year veteran was charged with larceny, but the charge was dismissed two years later after Genesee County Prosecutor David S. Leyton determined he had "borrowed" the game as part of a pattern of behavior in Barber's unit that saw other officers take home DVDs, video games and VHS tapes that had been seized in drug raids.

The union and his attorney had fought to get Barber put back on the job, but Terry Barber said the mayor would not allow it. "He wouldn't sign the papers to bring him back," said Terry Barber.

But Williamson said Barber got the same offer as about 10 other officers who were fired -- get your job back with $10,000 but no back pay.

Barber was the only officer to refuse the offer and took the matter to arbitration.

An arbitrator last year upheld the firing, leaving Barber no other options to get his job back.

Terry Barber said he felt his son's death could have been avoided if police would have let him talk to his son sooner Thursday.

Family members asked police numerous times for permission to call him or go to the apartment door, but police refused before eventually letting Terry Barber try.

Mundy Township Police Chief James Petres said he understood the family's frustration, but he said negotiators don't want to risk escalating such situations by directly involving family members.

It was an emotional scene at the entrance of the apartment complex, where Barber's mother had to be restrained at times from running to see her son.

"I want my son out of that apartment!" she shouted at one point in the afternoon.

Family members broke into screams and sobs when word came that Barber was dead.

Terry Barber said his son had two sons of his own.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

The standoff left numerous people unable to go home as police cars shuttled back and forth to the apartment complex. Residents were sent to a temporary shelter at a nearby middle school before they were given the go-ahead to return home about 11:30 p.m.













Standoff ends, former police officer found dead
Police say investigation is ongoing

ABC 12 News
July 25, 2008
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=6286601#bodyText

MUNDY TOWNSHIP (WJRT) -- (07/25/08)--What started as a normal day for dozens of residents at Maple Park Terrace apartments ended with a forced lockdown as police tried to negotiate with a possible barricaded gunman.

The situation started around 3 Thursday afternoon at the Maple Park Terrace apartment complex in Genesee County, just off of West Maple Avenue in Mundy Township.

Four buildings within the complex were evacuated.

It came to an end after 11 last night, when officers found the man inside dead.

Terry Barber has identified the man as his son, former Flint Police Officer Antonio Barber, 39.

"They did let me go over there and try to talk him out, but I felt it was too late then. He wouldn't, he wouldn't pick up the phone, but I did talk to him earlier, and he did call me several times on my cell phone, but I didn't have my phone. The officer had my phone," Barber said.

"The team went inside, checked, and found the suspect deceased. There were no shots fired by any of the officers on the scene," said Mundy Township Police Chief James Petres.

Police say the situation began as a domestic disturbance, and Barber was apparently holding his girlfriend and her two sons hostage inside the apartment.

At some point in the afternoon, the hostages were let go, unharmed.

Barber's father says his son loved being a police officer. He was let go from the department after being accused of stealing a video game during a drug raid.

The criminal charges were dropped, but Barber never rejoined the police department.

Barber's father says he blames Flint Mayor Don Williamson for his son's death, adding the mayor wouldn't let him back on the force.

The mayor says that's a lie. He says Barber was offered the same deal as was offered to others to come back to work, but he instead chose arbitration and lost.

He calls Barber's death a tragedy.


Wednesday, October 13, 2004

10132004 - Officer Brian Klonowski - Suspended - Southgate PD







Officer Brian Klonowski - Conviction for OIDV [2004]:
04252004 - Officer Brian Klonowski - Southgate PD - Arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault - Assaulted Gina Falconer - Klonowski yanked Gina out of her chair; threw Gina to the ground; restrained Gina by sitting on top of her; punched Gina in the face. It took FOUR people to pull Officer Klonowski off of Gina - who suffered a hemorrhage to her eye, a broken nose, and a broken bone abover her eye.


08082004 - Officer Brain Klonowski - Sentenced - Southgate PD - Klonowski pleaded no-contenst to an assault charge. Klonowski was placed on probation for 18 months


10132004 - Officer Brian Klonowski - Suspended from Southgate PD for 1 year. HOWEVER, in December 2004, it was discovered that since Officer Klonowski arrest for assault, he had been working in the 28th District Court.















On April 24, 2004, Officer Brian Klonowski yanked Gina out of her chair by her shirt....Threw her to the ground....Restrained her by sitting on top of her, and began punching her in the face....It took four people to get Officer Klonowski off of Gina...She suffered a  hemorrhage to her eye, a  broken nose and a broken bone above her eye.









On August 5, 2004, Officer Brian Klonowski pleaded no-contest to an assault charge. Klonowski was placed on probation for eighteen months.

On October 13, 2004, following his conviction, Officer Brian Klonowski was suspended from the police department for a year. 
















Suspended officer working in court
By Andrea Blum
The News-Herald
December 22, 2004
http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/122204/loc_20041222006.shtml

SOUTHGATE — A police officer serving a year's suspension from the department now has a new job at 28th District Court.

Officer Brian Klonowski, 32, who was suspended without pay in October for being convicted in an assault case, has been working in the court's drug screening department for several months.

Klonowski was arrested April 25 for punching Gina Falconer of Dearborn Heights while off duty at a party in Romulus.

According to police, Klonowski had been bothering Falconer at the party and attacked her after she threatened to hit him with a beer bottle.

He pleaded no contest to an assault charge and was sentenced to 18 months probation by 34th District Judge Brian Oakley on Aug. 5.

Klonowski also must serve 30 days on the court's work program, 60 days on a tether program and complete anger-management and alcohol counseling.

In addition, he is responsible for $2,000 in fines and court costs.

Police Chief Larry Hall said he was shocked when he learned of Klonowski's new job last week.

"You betray the public trust when you break the law, and you have to earn that back," Hall said. "One of the typical ways to do that is to be punished."

Hall said he doesn't believe it is appropriate for Klonowski to be screening people for alcohol and drug use when he was found to be drinking at the party. "It sends a mixed message as to what we try to do with officers who've done wrong," Hall said.

Court Administrator Maria Nevalo hired Klonowski in November and said the incident in Romulus had nothing to do with the decision. "This was not even a case that went through this court," Nevalo said.

She said having Klonowski working as a drug screener has benefited the court.

"It's been a hugely positive thing," she said. "He's gotten a good reception from the defendants."

Judge James Kandrevas declined to comment on the matter, citing an unrelated lawsuit he has against Hall.

City Administrator George Mans said the court is responsible for its own hiring practices.

"The city and court are two different entities," Mans said. "He's paying his debt to society by serving probation, but he's also trying to make a living."











Officer suspended after assault
By Andrea Blum
The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: October 13, 2004
http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/101304/loc_20041013007.shtml

SOUTHGATE — The Police Department will have one less officer for the next year.

Officer Brian Klonowski was suspended for a year after pleading no contest to an assault charge.

He was arrested April 25 for punching a Dearborn Heights woman while off-duty at a party in Romulus.

Gina Falconer suffered a broken nose and a broken bone above her eye.

According to police, Klonowski punched Falconer after she threatened to hit him with a beer bottle.

He has been with the department for eight years and works as a patrolman.

After the incident, he was reassigned to desk duty and required to turn in his badge and gun.

Klonowski, 32, was charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated assault.

He appeared before Judge Brian Oakley in 34th District Court on Aug. 5 and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Klonowski also must serve 30 days on the court's work program, 60 days on a tether program and complete anger management and alcohol counseling.

In addition, he is responsible for $2,000 in fines and court costs.

The charge carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

As a result, Klonowski also was suspended for a year beginning today without pay from the department.

"He will have no police powers and no authority to carry a handgun," Police Chief Larry Hall said. He added that Klonowski must successfully satisfy all conditions of his probation before being allowed back on the force. "Failure to do so will result in his termination," Hall said.

"I believe in holding police officers to the highest of standards.

"When an officer does something to discredit this department and the city, they are going to be dealt with in a very strict manner."

Upon returning to the force, he will be on probation for another year.

Both the union and Klonowski agreed to the terms of the suspension.












Officer's hearing delayed until June
Published: Sunday, May 23, 2004
Andrea Blum
The News-Herald
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2004/05/23/police/20040523-archive7.txt

ROMULUS -- A Southgate police officer's day in court was pushed back a little further.

Officer Brian Klonowski is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly hitting a woman while he was off duty at a party.

His pretrial hearing was adjourned May 13 before Judge Brian Oakley in 34th District Court and rescheduled for June 3.

Klonowski, 32, faces a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

Romulus police arrested him April 25 after a Dearborn Heights woman said he punched her in the face at the party.

According to police, he allegedly struck the woman after she threatened to hit him with a beer bottle.

No weapons were involved in the incident but police said alcohol did play a role.

Klonowski has been with the department for eight years as a patrolman.

He was reassigned to desk duty until the case is resolved.









Officer held after weekend assault
Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Andrea Blum
The News-Herald
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2004/04/28/localnews/20040428-archive6.txt

SOUTHGATE -- An off-duty police officer was charged Monday with assault for allegedly punching a woman at a weekend party.

Brian Klonowski, 32, faces a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

Romulus police arrested him early Sunday after Gina Falconer, 24, of Dearborn Heights said he punched her in the face at the party.

She suffered a broken nose and a broken bone above her eye as a result of the altercation.

She was treated at Heritage Hospital in Taylor and released.

According to police, Klonowski allegedly punched Falconer after she threatened to hit him with a beer bottle.

"He said he acted out of fear that he would be struck by her with the bottle, but that is an issue of great contention by witnesses," Police Chief Larry Hall said.

Klonowski was arraigned Monday before Judge Brian Oakley in 34th District Court and released on a personal bond.

He is due back in court May 13.

Klonowski, who is single, has been with the department for eight years and works as a patrolman.

He has been reassigned to desk duty pending the outcome of the case, according to Hall, and he turned in his badge and gun.

"It's always disappointing when something like this happens," Hall said, "but we have to put the best interests of the community first."

When the case is resolved, Hall will decide on possible further discipline. He added that Klonowski hasn't faced criminal charges before.

No weapons were involved and alcohol was a factor in the incident, police said.









Friday, October 1, 2004

10012004 - Officer David Gronin - Southgate PD

Also See:

Officer David Gronin convicted of domestic violence

    Woman files a lawsuit against cop, city
Published: Sunday, August 14, 2005
By Andrea Blum
The News-Herald
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2005/08/14/localnews/20050814-archive1.txt

SOUTHGATE — A lawsuit alleging a civil rights violation has been filed against the city by a woman accusing a police officer of brutality.

It is the second lawsuit against a police officer in less than a year.

The federal lawsuit charges Officer David Grondin with violating the civil rights of Christine Branum during an Oct. 1, 2004, visit police made to her house in the 14100 block of Fordline.

Grondin and two other officers responded to a domestic dispute call at the house.

The argument had ended when police arrived, but Grondin forced his way into the house to speak to Branum's boyfriend, according to the lawsuit.

It claims that Grondin grabbed the woman by the neck, kicked her and beat her while using abusive and vulgar language.

Branum is accusing Grondin of violating her Fourth Amendment rights and seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against "unreasonable search and seizure."

No arrests were made in the incident.

No charges were filed against Grondin after an investigation by the Michigan State Police and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office found insufficient evidence.

Grondin had been fired from the department in March 2003 for several reasons, including insubordination and a 2002 domestic assault charge involving his ex-wife and another man.

He returned to the force in November 2003 after winning an arbitration dispute with the city and was on probation in that case when the October incident took place.

Police Chief Larry Hall recommended firing Grondin, but Mayor Dennis David suspended him for five days.

"If you don't address these matters, they will come back," Hall said.

David said the issue being brought up is pure politics because he's running for re-election against the police chief's wife, Suzanne Hall.

"This has been going on since the day I took office," David said.

David beat incumbent Suzanne Hall two years ago in her re-election bid for the mayor's post.

The police chief dismisses the political aspect, saying that it's a matter of Dennis undermining his authority.

"I don't feel like I have any backing from City Hall," Hall said.

This isn't the first time the mayor and police chief have clashed over disciplining an officer.

The two butted heads earlier this year over the punishment for Patrolman Brian Klonowski, who pleaded guilty to punching a woman at a party last year in Romulus.

In that case, a Dearborn Heights woman is suing Klonowski, not the city, because he was off duty when the incident occurred.

Klonowski was serving a one-year suspension when David reduced the penalty to 90 days, saying that was the deal originally offered. Hall disagreed.

"My ability to discipline has been totally eroded," Hall said. "Everything I try to do is subject to being overridden by the mayor."

David, a former police officer, said he isn't backing down from his decisions.

"The actions I've taken for this and any other incident, I stand by," he said.

David doesn't agree with those who say Grondin doesn't belong on the department.

"That's outrageous," David said. "Officers make mistakes. There is no other community around here that has a pristine police department.

"They just happen to have chiefs that stand by them, not take them out in public and spank them."The five-day suspension was more than what the Public Safety Commission recommended, according to David.

"They said he needed to have some kind of incident management training," David said.

"They said the police chief was the one at fault for not training that officer."

Hall counters that the commission is made up of David's appointees and can only give recommendations.

Branum's attorney, Christopher Trainor, said the city should be held responsible for its actions.

"What the mayor and city commission did speaks for itself," Trainor said. "This guy shouldn't be on the force anymore."

He rebuked the claim that the lawsuit was brought to light for political reasons.

"That's ridiculous," he said. "This has nothing to do with any election.

"I know that information I have indicates that this guy is a bad cop."

City Attorney Jack Timmony said Branum's claims are simply allegations right now.

"There's been no finding of liability," he said. "That will be determined in court."











Officer reinstated to job
Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2003
By Andrea Blum, The News-Herald
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2003/11/12/localnews/20031112-archive5.txt

SOUTHGATE -- A former police officer is back on the force.

David Grondin resumed his duties as a police officer after winning an arbitration dispute with the city.

He was fired from the department March 27 after working there for three years.

Grondin was let go for insubordination stemming from several department issues, in addition to a domestic assault involving his ex-wife and another man, police said.

The union asked to take the matter to arbitration. The three-day hearing wrapped up Friday, with Grondin getting his job back on a probationary period.

"It was a negotiated settlement between the union and the city," Police Chief Larry Hall said. "He has been reassigned to a shift and is returning to work."

Grondin maintained that he was fired unfairly and fought to return to his job.

"I'm happy to be back and to be given a second chance," he said.

The settlement reinstates Grondin without any back pay or back benefits. It also places him on probation for another year.

"With the grievant wanting to come back to work in the city, it was decided that a year off without pay was a significant sanction," City Attorney Wallace Long said.

"The city is agreeing to go forward on this trial basis with him being on probation."

Arbitrator Mario Chiesa helped the two sides negotiate.

"Discussions ranged all over the place as to what had occurred," Long added.

"It's fair to say that after a long and healthy airing of all the issues surrounding his conduct, both parties thought it was in the best interest to resolve it in this fashion."

Monday, August 30, 2004

08302004 - Firefighter Michael Boyd - Sentenced - Southgate FD

June 18, 2004 assault charges against Firefighter Michael Boyd were dismissed on August 30, 2004.

Firefighter Michael Boyd [Southgate FD]: Assault charges [June 18, 2004] 
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2004/06/firefighter-michael-boyd-southgate-fd.html










Jail sentence for the June 18, 2004 charges of disorderly person against Firefighter Michael Boyd were suspended.

Firefighter Michael Boyd [Southgate FD]: Assault charges [June 18, 2004]

http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2004/06/firefighter-michael-boyd-southgate-fd.html

   









June 18, 2004 menacing charges against Firefighter Michael Boyd were dismissed on August 30, 2004.



Firefighter Michael Boyd [Southgate FD]: Assault charges [June 18, 2004]

http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2004/06/firefighter-michael-boyd-southgate-fd.html






Sunday, August 29, 2004

08292004 - Waterford Township Police Officer Mike Waleskowski - Murdered wife Lorna and son Hayden And Then Committed Suicide







On August 29, 2009, Waterford Township Police Officer Michael Waleskowski, shot and killed his wife Lorna....



...Officer Waleskowski shot and killed his 9 year- old son, Hayden...



...Officer Waleskowski set the house on fire and then committed suicide.






Suspended Officer Kills Family, Self; Sets House Afire
Man Accused Of Stealing $500 From Police Fund

Detroit Free Press
August 30, 2004
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/3690485/detail.html

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A Waterford Township police officer shot andkilled his wife, child, and himself after he was suspended from the department early Sunday, according to Local 4 reports.

Police announced in a 3 p.m. press conference that an investigation revealed that Officer Mike Waleskowski killed his 40-year-old wife, Lorna, and their 9-year-old son, Hayden, in their home on Meadowview Drive.

Police say Waleskowski, 40, set the house on fire to cover up their deaths and his suicide moments later, the station reported.

Authorities believe Waleskowski's suspension from the force may have motivated the attack.

Waleskowski was being investigated both criminally and internally for the theft of money and had been suspended from the Waterford Police Department, according to Chief John Dean, of the Waterford Police Department.

Waleskowski allegedly stole about $500 from a police department fund.

"They called him in, in the middle of his shift, and took his gun and his badge away and drove him home at 3:30 in the morning," said Beth Wright, a family friend.

The bodies were discovered in the home after the fire broke out about 6:45 a.m. Sunday.

Neighbors said they tried to save the family from the fire.

It was initially believed they were trapped inside the fire, but the Oakland County medical examiner ruled Monday that the victims died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Neighbor John Bojczyk said as he grabbed a hose to help put out the flames, he then heard gunshots.

Neighbors reportedly backed away from the home until firefighters arrived.

The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, Local 4 reported. The family was believed to be in the second floor of the home, which collapsed. The Waleskowskis reportedly lived in the home for 10 years.

Three firefighters were injured while fighting the blaze, according to Waterford police. They were sent to a hospital for treatment.

"Needless to say, it's a pretty tragic day for the members of the Waterford Police Department and the community," Dean said after hearing the news Sunday.

Hayden was expected to begin fifth grade at Haviland Elementary School Monday. His former teacher, Kathryn Kluesner, said the family was remarkable and very close knit.

"It's a terrible loss," said Kluesner.

Rhonda Lessel of the Waterford School District said counseling would be available to students Monday.

"Mike worshiped her and he adored Hayden and I just can't believe he did this," said Wright.

Police say Waleskowski left behind a suicide note."From what I understand, the note said he could not live with the disgrace," Wright said.













Suspended Michigan Cop Shot Family, Burned House, Then Turned The Gun On Himself
Officer.Com
August 31st, 2004
http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=16592&siteSection=5

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A suspended police officer under criminal investigation shot his wife and 9-year-old son before killing himself as part of a double murder-suicide, his department said Monday.

The bodies of Officer Michael Waleskowski, his wife Lorna and son Hayden were found inside their Waterford Township home Sunday morning. When authorities arrived, the house was engulfed in flames, but Robert Gerds, administrator for the Oakland County medical examiner's office, said all three died from gunshot wounds to the head.

He said Waleskowski's manner of death was determined to be suicide, while the others were homicides.Waterford Township Police Chief John Dean said Waleskowski was under criminal and internal investigation for allegations of stealing money.

He said Waleskowski had been suspended because of the investigation, but didn't give any more details.

``We now believe that Officer Mike Waleskowski killed his wife, his 9-year-old son and then killed himself,'' Dean told reporters at a news conference. After reading from a prepared statement, Dean took no questions. ``It's a very difficult time for all of us,'' Dean said.

Beth White, a family friend who came to the police department for the news conference, said afterward that Waleskowski was suspended during his shift just hours before the 6:45 a.m. EDT fire was reported.

White said neither she nor others who knew Waleskowski thought he was capable of killing his family.

``I don't think they can believe it either,'' White said of Waleskowski's police colleagues. ``They're all in shock. They were his friends."

'Neither police nor fire officials would say what role the fire played in the double murder-suicide.

Dennis Storrs, the township fire chief, said there was a high probability that flammable liquids were involved in the fire, which injured three firefighters who battled the blaze.

``The house was literally an inferno,'' Storrs said.

The bodies were found in bedrooms on the upper floor of the two-story house where the Waleskowskis had lived for at least 10 years, authorities said Sunday.

Storrs on Monday declined to discuss details of what firefighters found inside the home, noting that the investigation into the deaths was ongoing.

Waleskowski was a five-year veteran of the police department in Waterford Township, about 35 miles northwest of Detroit.

Hayden would have started fifth grade Monday at Haviland Elementary School, where he was a student since kindergarten, said district spokeswoman Rhonda Lessel.

Lessel said the school's roughly 54 fifth graders were told Monday that a one of the school's students died in a fire, and that a letter was sent home with children to parents explaining the situation. She also said the school had counselors and psychologists available to talk with the children.













Many are puzzled by killing of family
Cop likely saw death as only rescue from shame, experts say

Detroit Free Press
September 1, 2004
http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/homefire1n_20040901.htm

As they planned his funeral, those who knew Mike Waleskowski said they never could have imagined that he would have killed his family – and then himself.

But, psychologists said, as irrational an act as it may have seemed, suicide among police officers is more common than most people know. And, they said, in Waleskowski's mind, he was trying to save himself and his family from what he believed would have been terrible shame after he was suspended from his job as a Waterford police officer.

"These are people who get deeply depressed," Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said of fathers who kill their families.

"They do it to save them from the humiliation they would have to endure. They see it as the only way out."

The crime, known as familicide, is rare and poorly understood Schlesinger said.

The 911 hang-up call made from inside the house might have been Waleskowski, trying to get help, Schlesinger said.

Just before he took his life Sunday morning, Waleskowski wrote and signed a one-page, typewritten letter to Waterford Police Chief John Dean, police said. Waleskowski left it in his minivan parked in the driveway, police said.

Dean would not reveal what the letter said. Other officers who saw it, however, said Waleskowski must have written it just after he was sent home. In it, Waleskowski expressed remorse and apologized to the chief and the entire department for what he had done.

Waleskowski, who was caught on a surveillance camera allegedly taking about $500 from an arrested suspect's wallet, was confronted in themiddle of his shift that started at 9 p.m. Saturday and sent to his Waterford home at 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

"He was possibly involved in a felony," Dean said. "We had to take action."

As questions about the deaths swirled Tuesday, people who knew Waleskowski said there were no signs that he would kill himself or anyone else."I had nothing to indicate any of this," Dean said.

But, Dean said, there was no thought of arresting Waleskowski. There was no reason to suspect that he would flee, he said. His badge and gun were taken from him, and he was suspended from the department.

"There's not a police department in the world that would have arrested him," Dean said.

Nevertheless, police said, when Waleskowski got home, he used another gun -- a small-caliber semiautomatic -- to shoot and kill his 40-year-old wife, Lorna; 9-year-old son, Hayden, and the family's dog.

He then set fire to the house and shot himself in the head.

Police said the family was found together in the second-floor bedroom.

Oakland County Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic said Lorna Waleskowski and her son were probably killed in their sleep and died before the fire was set.

Before joining the Waterford Police Department five years ago, Waleskowski was a patrol officer with the Orchard Lake Police Department for a decade. He earned outstanding performance evaluations there, colleagues said.

Lorna Waleskowski would bring him homemade dinners, and he often bragged about Hayden.

The killings were "totally out of character," Orchard Lake Police Chief Fred Rosenau said. Robert Wolford, a State Police psychologist in Lansing, said the suicide rate for police is two to three times higher than the national average. Often, he said, it is because they run into a situation that they cannot fix or one that will elicit shame.

In about 80 percent of the cases, he said, officers try to get help.

Still, Wolford said, many departments are not aware that suicide rates are so high among police, and there are no standard protocols to deal with officers who might seem suicidal, he said.

Some departments turn to chaplains to help. On Monday, Waterford police brought in a priest to comfort people in the department.

"There is going to be a lot of anguish," said Joyce Gulley, a grief counselor for the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office. She consoled the survivors of the Waleskowski family who traveled from Ohio and Florida.

Many colleagues, schoolmates and police officers will be grieving, she said. Despite the homicides and suicide, she said, Waleskowski was a part of the Waterford Police Department -- and those who worked with him will feel a loss.

A memorial service for the family and visitation is scheduled for 3 pm. to 9 p.m. today at Riverside Chapel Simpson-Modetz Funeral Home, 5630 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford.


A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Faith Baptist Church, 3411 Airport Road, also in Waterford. The family will be cremated.












Sorrow and disbelief, but no bagpipes for cop who killed family
Detroit Free Press
September 1, 2004
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/dickerson1e_20040901.htm

This isn't how it's supposed to be.

When a police officer dies young, there should be pomp and ceremony.

There should be a motorcade 6 miles long, including patrol cars from places the fallen officer has never been to.

There should be striped trouser legs creased to a razor's edge, black oxfords buffed to a high sheen and gleaming badges taped with black bands of mourning.

There should be a flag, and white-gloved hands to fold it, and proud family members to hand it to.

Police officers in Waterford took part in such a ritual just a few months ago, when their colleague Nicole Davis' husband, an officer in the Bloomfield Township Police Department, was killed in the line of duty.

Uniformed mourners from five states escorted Gary Davis to his final resting place. Bagpipers played. Students from Lahser High School, where Gary Davis had worked as a liaison officer, presented his wife with a videotape commemorating his life. Michael Waleskowski's funeral won't be like that.

Waleskowski took his own life Sunday morning after fatally shooting his wife, son and dog and setting the house they'd all lived in afire.

The Waterford police officer's last night shift had ended abruptly a few hours earlier, when a supervisor told Waleskowski he was under investigation for theft, collected his badge and gun and sent him home.

In a suicide note addressed to Waterford Police Chief John Dean, Waleskowski expressed shame at his predicament and said he'd killed his wife and child so they wouldn't have to share his humiliation.

His wife's relatives lived out of state, he explained; once he was gone, there'd be no one nearby to help her and their 9-year-old son.

But Dean, a father of four, is having no part of Waleskowski's sympathetic self-portrait.

In his final hours, the chief told his subordinates, Waleskowski surrendered any claim to the public honors normally due a police officer. And so there will be no 21-gun salute, no bagpipes keening, no badges striped with black bands.

Not like MikeDean's anger and revulsion are primal; any parent, any human being, can understand them.

Confronted with such evil -- or, if you prefer the psychological model, such derangement -- the last thing any of us wants to do is acknowledge the perpetrator as one of our own species, much less one of our own profession.

But Joyce Gulley, who works for the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office, has little choice.

Gulley's job is to counsel those whose loved ones end up in the medical examiner's storage vaults.

Tuesday, she was helping Michael and Lorna Waleskowski's stunned relatives make funeral arrangements. The circumstances, Gulley acknowledged, were extraordinary -- "one of the tragedies of all time" -- but the decisions to be reckoned with were practical ones. One funeral service or three? Cremation or burial?

Late Tuesday afternoon, family members opted for cremation of the Waleskowskis' remains and a single funeral service at Waterford's First Baptist Church.

Gulley, who is the spouse of a police officer, finds Michael Waleskowski's actions as incomprehensible as anyone else.

But after witnessing his family's grief, she cannot indulge the comforting delusion that Waleskowski belonged to some separate, alien species.

"When people lose their way and can't find their way back," she says, "well ... it just touches so many lives."












Cop's relatives forgive him for killing family
Detroit Free Press
September 2, 2004
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/date2e_20040902.htm

Before a memorial service for Waterford Police Officer Mike Waleskowski, his wife, Lorna, and their son, Hayden, the family's survivors issued a statement Wednesday saying that the officer who killed his family and then himself was human -- and they forgive him.

Near the shade of a tall oak outside the Riverside Chapel Simpson-Modetz Funeral Home in Waterford, the Waterford deputy police chief, Dan McCaw, read the relatives' statement. McCaw said they were too distraught to deliver the message.

Mike Waleskowski, 39, was under investigation for theft. After being suspended from his job early Sunday morning, he went home, typed a suicide note and sometime before 6:45 a.m., shot and killed his 40-year-old wife, Lorna, their son, Hayden, 9, and the family dog.

Then he set fire to the house and shot himself in the head.

"Michael acknowledged to the rest of the family that he understood we would suffer the consequences and asked our forgiveness. He has it," the note said.

"The family acknowledges that this tragedy affects many others outside the immediate family; we grieve with all of you."

A funeral service is set for today at Faith Baptist Church, 3411 Airport Road in Waterford.












Many Are Stunned, Puzzled By Cop's Killing of Family
Detroit Free Press
September 01, 2004
http://www.policeone.com/policeone/frontend/parser.cfm?object=NewDivisions&rel=39116&operation=full_article&id=91511

As they planned his funeral, those who knew Mike Waleskowski said they never could have imagined that he would have killed his family – and then himself.

But, psychologists said, as irrational an act as it may have seemed, suicide among police officers is more common than most people know. And, they said, in Waleskowski's mind, he was trying to save himself and his family from what he believed would have been terrible shame after he was suspended from his job as a Waterford police officer.

"These are people who get deeply depressed," Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said of fathers who kill their families.

"They do it to save them from the humiliation they would have to endure. They see it as the only way out."

The crime, known as familicide, is rare and poorly understood Schlesinger said.

The 911 hang-up call made from inside the house might have been Waleskowski, trying to get help, Schlesinger said. Just before he took his life Sunday morning, Waleskowski wrote and signed a one-page, typewritten letter to Waterford Police Chief John Dean, police said.

Waleskowski left it in his minivan parked in the driveway, police said.

Dean would not reveal what the letter said. Other officers who saw it, however, said Waleskowski must have written it just after he was sent home. In it, Waleskowski expressed remorse and apologized to the chief and the entire department for what he had done.

Waleskowski, who was caught on a surveillance camera allegedly taking about $500 from an arrested suspect's wallet, was confronted in the middle of his shift that started at 9 p.m. Saturday and sent to his Waterford home at 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

"He was possibly involved in a felony," Dean said. "We had to take action."

As questions about the deaths swirled Tuesday, people who knew Waleskowski said there were no signs that he would kill himself or anyone else.

"I had nothing to indicate any of this," Dean said. But, Dean said, there was no thought of arresting Waleskowski. There was no reason to suspect that he would flee, he said. His badge and gun were taken from him, and he was suspended from the department."There's not a police department in the world that would have arrested him," Dean said.

Nevertheless, police said, when Waleskowski got home, he used another gun -- a small-caliber semiautomatic -- to shoot and kill his 40-year-old wife, Lorna; 9-year-old son, Hayden, and the family's dog.

He then set fire to the house and shot himself in the head.

Police said the family was found together in the second-floor bedroom. Oakland County Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic said Lorna Waleskowski and her son were probably killed in their sleep and died before the fire was set.

Before joining the Waterford Police Department five years ago, Waleskowski was a patrol officer with the Orchard Lake Police Department for a decade. He earned outstanding performance evaluations there, colleagues said.

Lorna Waleskowski would bring him homemade dinners, and he often bragged about Hayden.

The killings were "totally out of character," Orchard Lake Police Chief Fred Rosenau said.

Robert Wolford, a State Police psychologist in Lansing, said the suicide rate for police is two to three times higher than the national average. Often, he said, it is because they run into a situation that they cannot fix or one that will elicit shame.

In about 80 percent of the cases, he said, officers try to get help.

Still, Wolford said, many departments are not aware that suicide rates are so high among police, and there are no standard protocols to deal with officers who might seem suicidal, he said.

Some departments turn to chaplains to help. On Monday, Waterford police brought in a priest to comfort people in the department. "There is going to be a lot of anguish," said Joyce Gulley, a grief counselor for the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office. She consoled the survivors of the Waleskowski family who traveled from Ohio and Florida.

Many colleagues, schoolmates and police officers will be grieving, she said. Despite the homicides and suicide, she said, Waleskowski was a part of the Waterford Police Department -- and those who worked with him will feel a loss.

A memorial service for the family and visitation is scheduled for 3 pm. to 9 p.m. today at Riverside Chapel Simpson-Modetz Funeral Home, 5630 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford.

A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Faith Baptist Church, 3411 Airport Road, also in Waterford. The family will be cremated.












Shame turned good cop into killer
Interview, 911 call, suicide note paint chilling picture of Waterford officer's final hours

The Detroit News
Sep 13, 2004
http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0409/14/a01-273029.htm

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP — It was 4:28 a.m. on a late August morning when Officer Michael Waleskowski turned from enforcing the law to breaking it. Overwhelmed with debt, and facing a $939 property tax bill he couldn’t pay, Waleskowski, 39, tapped into the quickest source of cash he could find: he stole money from the police property room. The money belonged to a drunken driving suspect being held at the county jail.

Waleskowski was caught on tape and 26 hours later, the shame of being a good cop gone bad turned him into a killer.

Waleskowski shot his son, Hayden, 9, while the child lay sleeping in a makeshift tent in their family room. Investigators concluded that he carried the boy’s lifeless body to the bed where his mother, Lorna, slept.

Waleskowski next turned his gun on the family Chihuahua and at 6:46 a.m. on Aug. 29, he shot and killed Lorna, his wife of 15 years. He set their home on fire before climbing into the bed and shooting himself, investigators said.

The last hours of the Waleskowski family are chronicled first in police tapes of an interview with a man known to his fellow cops as a fine officer and a loving family man; in 911 calls from their home as Waleskowski went on his rampage; and in a suicide note he left taped to the driver’s side window of his truck.

“My family will forgive me, but I will never forgive myself,” Waleskowski wrote. “I know this is the coward’s way out, but I cannot go back to work after this is all over even if I had a job. I cannot leave this world and leave my family here to listen to the ridicule and whispers.”

Emmanuel Tanay, a forensic psychiatrist at Wayne State University, said the killing of a family by a suicidal member is well-documented in psychiatric research. “We are a unit; I go and the family goes with me,” Tanay said in explaining the mind-set of suicidal family members.

Waleskowski told investigators in a taped interview that he was $500 short of being able to pay his summer property tax bill. The amount he stole: $466.

“I was a few hundred bucks short,” he said on the tape. “I just spent $300 on school clothes for my kid. I spent the whole day thinking about how I could get (the stolen money) back. I thought I could slip it in a different bin so guys thought the property was given to the wrong person,” he told investigators. “It’s like pulling the trigger; once you do it, you can’t take it back.”

But property taxes were only the beginning of Waleskowski’s debt. Records show he owed $61,000 on credit cards and another $9,600 on other loans. Moreover, Oakland County deed records show the couple bought their home in Waterford in 1993 for $109,000 and took out a $99,000 mortgage. They refinanced the house nine times in the next 11 years, pushing their debt on the house to $200,000 in their last mortgage in December 2003.

Michael Waleskowski’s base salary was $55,000 a year. Overtime often pushed that up to above $70,000. He also made an undetermined amount of money working part-time as a security guard. Lorna Waleskowski’s job as a pharmacy technician for Oakland County paid $31,000 and made their combined salaries at least $86,000 a year.

His overtime and his part-time work pushed their income above $100,000 in a township where the median household income was $55,008 when the 2000 census was taken.

The family’s money woes stumped investigators who said there was no evidence that Waleskowski used drugs, gambled or had other vices more commonly linked to such extensive debts.

Colleagues saw a family man who fished and golfed with his 9-year-old son. His bosses saw a police officer who worked hard and well. Waleskowski took pride in his work and described his marriage as perfect: “We had two fights in 16 years,” he said on the tape.

“I can see someone in financial trouble stealing; you can almost understand that,” said Waterford Deputy Police Chief Dale LaCroix, who was Waleskowski’s golf partner. “But the rest, we just don’t know. No one saw it coming.”

A good cop
Michael Waleskowski was good at his job. He’d worked for the Orchard Lake Police Department for 12 years before transferring to Waterford in 1999.

Waleskowski worked midnights and served on the department’s crash reconstruction team.

“He was above average in terms of arrests and tickets,” LaCroix said.

Waleskowski’s life at home appeared equally rewarding. Waleskowski had married Lorna Naylor on June 10, 1989, and five years later, Hayden was born. Co-workers said that Waleskowski loved spending time with his son.

“When his son wasn’t in school, he would bring him with him to court,” said Police Chief John Dean. “His son just idolized him. All he wanted to be was a Waterford police officer.”

Images recorded by security cameras in the property room of the Waterford Police Department on Aug. 28 show an officer enter the property room with the lights off and retrieve a key to a property bin. The figure walks off camera momentarily.

LaCroix said a separate camera in the hallway records Waleskowski walking out of the room with a property bag under his arm at the same time.

“I grabbed the bag and took it,” Waleskowski said later, as two Sheriff’s detectives questioned him about the theft. “I’ve got it at home.”

The property in the bag belonged to a suspected drunken driver arrested six hours earlier by another officer. The driver spent the night in the Oakland County Jail and returned to Waterford about 8:30 a.m. to retrieve his things.

“The guy wanted his property,” Dean said. “The desk sergeant went down to the property room and couldn’t find it. So he told the man it was misplaced and we would contact him when we found it.”

Search continues
Dean said officers continued to search the property room throughout the day on Aug. 28. When the afternoon shift commanders came on duty at 3 p.m., they were told property was missing from an arrest on their shift.

LaCroix said commanders questioned the officer who arrested the drunken driver and he described logging the man’s property and having a fellow officer place it in a bin. The second officer confirmed his version of events, so did videotape from the security cameras.

That same tape eventually showed Waleskowski taking the bag. Commanders began an internal investigation on Waleskowski and asked the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department to send over detectives to review the criminal case.

They called in Sheriff’s deputies to head off any question about the integrity of the investigation. Also called in that night was LaCroix, who consulted with Dean by telephone. LaCroix said later that Waleskowski showed no sign of emotional distress.

Sheriff detectives reviewed the tapes and dispatch logs and prepared to question Waleskowski. It was after midnight when they tried to bring him in, but he was assisting on a K-9 track of a break-in suspect and took more than an hour to clear his call, LaCroix said.

About 2 a.m. investigators sat Waleskowski in an interview room facing a video camera.

Waleskowski first said he visited the property room twice during his shift, both times to log property from people he’d arrested. He denied returning a third time.

“You did return,” one of the detectives told him. “It’s you clear as a bell on tape. You’re not doing too good. It’s on videotape.”

Took bag home
Waleskowski’s hands moved from his chin to under his nose, but his demeanor changed little. He then admitted taking the bag and hiding it in an evidence room until the end of his shift, when he took it home.

The detectives asked Waleskowski to sign a form allowing them to search his house and retrieve the property. He agreed. They said they wanted to call his wife, so she wouldn’t be startled by the officers in the home, but he became reluctant.

Waleskowski said his wife took sleeping pills. “She’ll never wake up,” Waleskowski said.

He eventually accompanied officers to his home. They recovered the property bag from a shed attached to the house. The money was inside the home.

Waleskowski surrendered his service weapon and a personal gun he kept at home. Officers did not know he had another weapon, the one he used for the killings.

After investigators finished talking to Waleskowski at the station, he went home a final time. Some fellow officers went with him and it was after 3 a.m. when they left him there. Waleskowski assured them he would be fine.

At 4 a.m. he sat down at a computer and typed out a suicide note. He addressed it to Dean, LaCroix and his fellow officers. He taped the note on the driver’s window of his truck parked in the driveway.

Investigators concluded that Waleskowski killed his son first. He died from a single gunshot to the head.

Waleskowski apparently carried the boy’s body upstairs and placed him in bed with his sleeping mother.

Someone calls 911
At 6:46 a.m. someone in the home dialed 911 but said nothing. The department’s computer system recorded sounds from the line even before the dispatcher answered the phone, which is possible through 911 recording technology.

The sound of a single gunshot is heard on the tape just before the dispatcher picks up the phone. Investigators believe that shot killed the family’s Chihuahua.

After the dispatcher hung up because there was no response, the computer continued recording what sounds like a groggy woman’s voice saying “Hello.”

Another gunshot can be heard on the tape before it stops recording. Ninety seconds later a neighbor called 911 to report seeing smoke coming from the home. When fire crews arrived, flames were pouring out the windows.

LaCroix said gasoline had been poured throughout the home. The entire family and the dog were found in the bed, Dean said.

Officers have grappled with how to move past the tragedy. Dean said he’s been criticized for the handling of the incident, but he can’t see how anything could have been done differently.

Waleskowski gave no indication what he was planning, Dean said.

“When he stole that property, it was a gross violation of public trust,” Dean said. “We couldn’t look the other way. That badge is bigger than all of us.”












Burned-out house where 3 died haunts neighbors
Waterford officials working to demolish remnants of home

The Daily Oakland Press
May 17, 2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/051705/loc_20050517005.shtml

WATERFORD TWP. - Neighbors in Waterford Township don't like driving by what's left of the home on Meadowview where, last August, patrol officer Mike Waleskowski killed his wife, Lorna, and their son, Hayden, 10, and then set fire to the house and killed himself.

"It is a terrible reminder of what happened," said a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous.

"Many (Waterford students) have to see that house every day as a constant reminder that their friend died in that house. It is hard to fill the mind of a young child with all the happy, positive memories we have of the Waleskowski family only to drive by that house and be reminded of the horror in which they died."

Township officials say they, too, are frustrated with the time they've had trying to demolish the boarded-up home.

"The building is open to the elements and unsafe," said Douglas Bradley, the township's Building and Engineering director. "We're concerned with residents in the neighborhood."

The township began trying to have the home demolished late last fall, Bradley said, but learned that one of the families working with the couples' estate went to court to fight any removal of the house.

After some fits and starts, including a judge being away because of illness, Waterford officials were able to have the case heard in late April.

Court records indicate that Probate Judge Barry Grant has ordered that the personal representative from the Waleskowski estate may demolish the building after May 26.

"That house will come down very soon," said Michael McCulloch, a Royal Oak-based attorney for Michael Waleskowski's family. "We have made arrangements to have it demolished after May 26."

McCulloch said the delay resulted from people involved with the estate of Lorna Waleskowski needing time to investigate their claim.

Generally, demolishing any dangerous building is a lengthy process, said Bradley, unless the building is in imminent danger of collapsing.

The Waleskowski home was not in that category, he said.

Bradley said his department has had calls from three or four people asking what was being done with the house.

"We tried to keep them informed, to keep neighborhood involved. I'm sure it bothers everybody in there," Bradley said. "It was a horrific event."

Even when the township has completed all of the legal steps required to demolish, a property owner still has the right to go to circuit court to get an order to stop demolition.

McCulloch sounded grateful to people living around the house.

He said, "Michael's family wishes to thank the neighbors and township officials for their patience."













Frog sculpture honors 10-year-old
The Daily Oakland Press
May 17, 2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/051705/loc_20050517006.shtml

Fifth-grader Hayden Waleskowski loved all kinds of earthly creatures. That's why the 10-year-old boy will be remembered with a frog sculpture by his classmates at Haviland Elementary School.

Hayden and his mother, Lorna, were killed by his father, Michael Waleskowski, last August, after his father, a Waterford Township police officer, was suspended from duty.

School officials used the $2,600 that was donated after the boy's funeral to purchase a 60-inch-high bronze sculpture of a frog that will be placed in the school's front gardens.

"It seemed like this was a fitting memorial as Hayden loved animals and nature," said Rhonda Lessel, spokeswoman for the district.

The sculpture, which will be visible from the road, should be installed in two to three weeks.

A ceremony to dedicate the sculpture will be conducted for Hayden's relatives and the fifth-grade class before the end of the school year, Lessel said.