Detroit PD Officer Willie Fortner Posts
Police: Off-duty Detroit officer arrested after altercation involving gun
Detroit Free Press
April 22, 2018
An off-duty Detroit police officer was arrested after he's alleged to have pulled out a gun during an altercation early Saturday morning in downtown, according to Detroit Police Department.
Police said the Willie Fortner, 25, was fighting with his girlfriend at about 2 a.m. Saturday near Beaubien and East Fort streets. When passersby saw and tried to intervene, Fortner is alleged to have pulled out a gun, according to police.
The officer is a two-year veteran and works at the 5th Precinct, police said. Both a criminal and internal investigation have been launched, and the officer is incarcerated in the Detroit Detention Center.
Police said charges are being considered, and an arraignment for the officer is expected Monday.
Off-duty Detroit police officer charged with assault in Greektown incident
Click On Detroit - WDIV News
Apr 23, 2018
An off-duty Detroit police officer has been charged with assault in connection with a Greektown incident.
Off-duty Detroit police officer charged in Greektown assault - Arraignment
Click On Detroit - WDIV News
Apr 23, 2018
An off-duty Detroit police officer was arraigned Monday after allegedly pulling a gun during a domestic incident Saturday morning in Greektown.
Off-duty police officer accused of assaulting girlfriend, pulling gun on good Samaritans
Ann Arbor News: Web Edition Articles (MI)
April 23, 2018
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
DETROIT -- An off-duty Detroit police officer is accused of assaulting his girlfriend and two good Samaritans who stopped the beating before the man brandished a gun in Detroit's Greektown this past weekend.
Willie Fortner, 25, attacked his 22-year-old girlfriend near East Fort and Beaubian streets about 2 a.m. Saturday, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says.
"A 29-year-old man and a 20-year-old man observed the defendant physically assaulting the woman, and both men intervened to protect her," according to prosecutors. "It is alleged that Fortner had a verbal dispute with the men, went to the trunk of his car, removed a hand gun, and pointed it at both men, causing them to run for cover.
"Detroit police officers were dispatched to the location and placed Fortner under arrest."
Fortner is charged with two counts of felony assault, felony use of a firearm and misdemeanor domestic violence.
A $15,000, 10 percent bond was set at Fortner's arraignment Monday, April 23. He is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary examination on May 7.
Fortner isn't allowed to communicate with the victims or possess firearms while his case is pending.
Off-duty Detroit officer charged with assaulting woman
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
April 23, 2018
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
DETROIT (AP) — An off-duty Detroit police officer has been charged with several crimes after authorities say he assaulted his estranged girlfriend and pulled a gun on men trying to intervene.
Twenty-five-year-old Willie Fortner was arraigned Monday on assault, firearm and domestic violence charges in a district court. Bond was set at $15,000, of which he must pay 10 percent. He also was ordered not to contact any of the victims or possess firearms.
Prosecutors say two men reported seeing Fortner assault the woman early Saturday and they tried to stop him. They argued, and authorities say Fortner pointed a gun at them.
The Associated Press left a message for an attorney with the Detroit Police Officers Association.
Police Chief James Craig says Fortner, a Detroit officer for two years, has been suspended.
Detroit Police officer facing charges after gun incident in Greektown
Detroit Free Press
April 23, 2018
A Detroit Police officer is facing felony charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in Greektown then pulling a handgun on two men who tried to intervene.
Willie Fortner, 25, was arraigned Monday morning in 36th District Court in Detroit on two counts of assault, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Fortner received a $15,000/10% bond. He was ordered not to have contact with any of the victims and is not allowed to possess any firearms.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, the incident happened at about 2:13 a.m. Saturday on East Fort Street and Beaubien.
A 29-year-old man and a 20-year-old man reportedly witnessed Fortner physically assaulting the woman, and they attempted to intervene, according to a news release from the prosecutor's office.
According to the prosecutor's office, Fortner argued with the men, went to the trunk of his car, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at them. The two then ran for cover.
Detroit Police officers responded and placed Fortner under arrest.
Police told the Free Press that Fortner is a two-year veteran who is assigned to the 5th Precinct.
A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 30 and a preliminary examination for May 7.
At a news conference at Detroit Police Headquarters on Monday, Chief James Craig said Fortner has been suspended with pay, but the department will be submitting a request to place him on suspension without pay.
Craig said Fortner may have been under the influence of alcohol, but police have not confirmed that.
Craig said all Detroit officers go through the police academy where integrity is stressed and they are reminded they are held to a higher standard throughout their careers.
"Sometimes officers make bad decisions. The key is being transparent and also holding officers accountable," Craig said. "We don't hide misconduct. We address misconduct.
"... This is no way reflects the men and women that do a phenomenal job every day."
Off-duty cop who pulled gun banned from firearms
The Detroit News
April 23, 2018
An off-duty Detroit police officer has been arraigned on charges after he allegedly tussled with his girlfriend downtown Sunday and pulled out his gun when citizens tried to help the woman, police said.
Officer Willie Fortner, 25, was arraigned Monday on two counts of felonious assault, two counts of felony firearm and domestic violence.
At the arraignment Monday, a 36th District Court judge ordered Fortner held on a $15,000 bond. She also ordered him to not have any contact with the victim and banned him from having any firearms.
Fortner's next court appearance is scheduled for next week Monday.
Detroit police internal affairs investigators are looking into the alleged infraction by the officer, who has been on the force two years and works at the 5th Precinct.
In addition to the internal probe, police have launched a criminal investigation into the allegations.
A felonious assault charge is punishable by up to four years in prison.
Fortner and his 22-year-old girlfriend were arguing inside a nightclub near Fort and Beaubien at about 2 a.m. Sunday, police said. The squabble continued after they exited the club, and the officer tried to force the woman into his car.
When two men saw the struggle and attempted to intervene, the officer allegedly opened his trunk and produced his gun, according to police. Prosecutors said Fortner pointed his gun at the men, who ran for cover.
“At this point, we’re not sure if the officer was under the influence of alcohol or not,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said on Sunday, prior to the charges being announced. “There’s an allegation he may have pointed his gun at the men who tried to help.”
Internal affairs investigators were poring through surveillance video to get a clearer idea of what happened, Craig said.
“It’s a bad situation, but I applaud the captain on the scene who did all the right things,” Craig said. “He handled it like any other crime, secured witnesses and made the appropriate notification so we could do a thorough investigation.”
Kenneth Reed, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said the incident appears to be a domestic violence issue, prompting him to call for more training.
“I think there needs to be more training in terms of de-escalation, training these officers in term of how to treat others and with handling domestic violence,” Reed said. “Officers have to be held to a higher standard regardless of whether you are wearing the uniform or out for a night on the town.”
Craig suspends cop in off-duty gun incident
The Detroit News
April 23, 2018
A Detroit police officer who was charged with four felonies after allegedly pulling his service pistol on two men outside a downtown Detroit bar Sunday morning has been suspended, the city’s police chief said Monday.
Officer Willie Fortner, 25, of the 5th Precinct was arraigned Monday on two counts of felonious assault, two counts of felony firearm, and domestic violence after the alleged incident outside a bar at Fort Street and Beaubien near Greektown.
Prosecutors say Fortner assaulted his girlfriend following an argument inside the bar, and when two Good Samaritans tried to intervene, he allegedly retrieved his gun from the trunk of his car and pointed it at the two men.
During a press conference at police headquarters, Police Chief James Craig said Fortner has been suspended with pay, but added he will ask the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners Thursday to withhold the officer’s pay.
Craig said Fortner, a two-year police veteran, is the seventh Detroit officer charged with a crime in 2018.
“Of that, four involved alcohol, and two involved on-duty neglect of duty,” Craig said, adding the number of officers charged with crimes is “about the same” as previous years.
“But one of these instances is too many,” he said. “We have zero tolerance for officers engaging in criminal misconduct, and we take prompt action not some of the time but all of the time.”
Wayne County assistant prosecutor Maria Miller said in a press release: “Fortner physically assaulted his 22-year-old girlfriend. A 29-year-old man and a 20-year-old man observed the defendant physically assaulting the woman, and both men intervened to protect her.
“It is alleged that Fortner had a verbal dispute with the men, went to the trunk of his car, removed a hand gun, and pointed it at both men, causing them to run for cover,” Miller said. “Detroit police officers were dispatched to the location and placed Fortner under arrest.”
Craig praised how Detroit officers and supervisors handled the incident.
“One of the criticisms police departments sometimes face is whether we treat police officers facing criminal investigations any differently,” Craig said. “(Fortner) was immediately taken into custody, witnesses were obtained, and video was obtained. I applaud the (officers and supervisors on the scene), who did a good job.”
Prosecutor: Detroit cop assaulted girlfriend, pulled gun on guys who tried to help
Metro Times
Apr 23, 2018
The Detroit Police Department is facing yet another allegation that one of its officers acted inappropriately. This time, a two-year veteran of the department has been charged with several felonies for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in Greektown and pulling a gun on innocent bystanders who tried to help.
Officer Willie Fortner is 26 years old and works at the department's fifth precinct, which covers a portion of the city's far east side. He's currently suspended as a result of the weekend incident, and Police Chief James Craig says he plans to request that suspension be without pay.
As is typical with such incidents, Craig called a news conference after the charges came to light and attempted to put a positive spin on things.
"When we look at the number of officers that are charged with allegations of criminality ... typically it's off-duty conduct, and then when you take it a step further, most of the time it's conduct involving alcohol," Craig said. "Sometimes, officers have made bad decisions not reflective of the entire police department."
Craig also championed DPD officers for arresting one of their own and handling the investigation as normal.
Earlier this month, a longtime DPD officer who has been involved in several shootings, one of them fatal, was charged after he was found possibly drunk and carrying numerous weapons at the scene of a car crash in which he was not involved. Officer Jerold Blanding was off duty and on restricted status with the department at the time of the incident. He was not permitted to be carrying a gun. The restrictions stemmed from his fatal shooting of a teenager last year, though Blanding had already been cleared of wrongdoing in that case.
Fortner was arraigned Monday on a $15,000 bond. He faces two counts of felonious assault, two counts of felony firearm, and one count of misdemeanor domestic violence.
The Detroit Police Department has been plagued by allegations of wrongdoing or insensitivity on the part of its officers and in one case, a leader, in recent weeks. We've provided a sampling of stories chronicling those allegations below.
Detroit Police Officer Charged With Assaulting a Woman
CBS News - Detroit
April 23, 2018
DETROIT (AP) — An off-duty Detroit police officer has been charged with several crimes after authorities say he assaulted his estranged girlfriend and pulled a gun on men trying to intervene.
Twenty-five-year-old Willie Fortner was arraigned Monday on assault, firearm and domestic violence charges in a district court. Bond was set at $15,000, of which he must pay 10 percent. He also was ordered not to contact any of the victims or possess firearms.
Prosecutors say two men reported seeing Fortner assault the woman early Saturday and they tried to stop him. They argued, and authorities say Fortner pointed a gun at them.
The Associated Press left a message for an attorney with the Detroit Police Officers Association. Police Chief James Craig says Fortner has been a Detroit officer for two years.
Off-duty officer arrested outside Detroit bar facing felony charges
FOX 2 News - Detroit
April 23, 2018
DETROIT (WJBK) - A Detroit police officer has been charged after an alleged violent incident with his girlfriend while he was off duty over the weekend.
Willie Fortner, 25, is accused of beating his girlfriend, and pulling out his gun as witnesses tried to step in and help.
The alleged incident happened around 2 a.m. in downtown Detroit when the bars were letting out. We're told the officer and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument in a business at Fort and Beaubien in Greektown, and that argument escalated when they took things outside.
Fortner, who's been with the force for two years, has been in jail since. He was arraigned on charges on Monday.
He's been charged with two counts of Felonious Assault, two counts of Felony Firearm, and one count of misdemeanor Domestic Violence.
Cameras caught some of the alleged incident on tape, so police are reviewing that as part of the investigation. They have not released the footage.
Prosecutors allege two men saw Fortner assaulting his 22-year-old girlfriend and intervened to protect her. It's alleged Fortner then got into a verbal fight with the men, went to the trunk of his car and got out a handgun and pointed it them, causing them to run for cover.
Detroit Police say both an internal and a criminal investigation have been launched.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said there was a belief he may have been under the influence of alcohol but that has not been confirmed. He has been suspended with pay but DPD is requesting a suspension without pay at the next police commission board meeting, he said.
"I applaud the citizens that saw the dispute apparently what they saw was problematic and then the officer made the bad decision to arm himself allegedly," he said.
Craig said as of 2018, DPD has had seven officers charged and alcohol was involved in four of those cases.
"The majority of the officers that get in trouble - it usually happens off duty," he said.
Cop in off-duty gun incident suspended
Detroit News, The (MI)
April 24, 2018
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
A Detroit police officer who was charged with four felonies after allegedly pulling his service pistol on two men outside a Detroit bar Sunday morning has been suspended, the city's police chief said Monday.
Officer Willie Fortner, 25, of the 5th Precinct was arraigned Monday on two counts of felonious assault, two counts of felony firearm, and domestic violence after the alleged incident outside a bar at Fort Street and Beaubien near Greektown.
Prosecutors say Fortner assaulted his girlfriend following an argument inside the bar, and when two people tried to intervene, he allegedly retrieved his gun from the trunk of his car and pointed it at the two men.
During a press conference at police headquarters, Chief James Craig said Fortner has been suspended with pay, but added he will ask the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners Thursday to withhold the officer's pay.
Craig said Fortner, on the force for two years, is the seventh Detroit officer charged with a crime in 2018.
"Of that, four involved alcohol, and two involved on-duty neglect of duty," Craig said, adding the number is "about the same" as previous years.
"But one of these instances is too many," he said. "We have zero tolerance for officers engaging in criminal misconduct, and we take prompt action not some of the time but all of the time."
Wayne County assistant prosecutor Maria Miller said in a press release: "Fortner physically assaulted his 22-year-old girlfriend. A 29-year-old man and a 20-year-old man observed the defendant physically assaulting the woman, and both men intervened to protect her.
"It is alleged that Fortner had a verbal dispute with the men, went to the trunk of his car, removed a hand gun, and pointed it at both men, causing them to run for cover," Miller said. "Detroit police officers were dispatched to the location and placed Fortner under arrest."
Craig praised how Detroit officers and supervisors handled the incident.
"One of the criticisms police departments sometimes face is whether we treat police officers facing criminal investigations any differently," Craig said. "(Fortner) was immediately taken into custody, witnesses were obtained, and video was obtained. I applaud the (officers and supervisors on the scene), who did a good job."
Witness says off-duty DPD officer threatened to 'put 2 in me'
FOX 2 Detroit
April 26, 2018
DETROIT (WJBK) - A Detroit police officer is facing charges of assault, domestic violence and felony firearm after an incident near Greektown over the weekend. He was off duty at the time.
Willie Fortner, 25, is accused of beating his girlfriend, and pulling out his gun as witnesses tried to step in and help.
The two witnesses spoke to FOX 2, saying their lives were threatened and they now fear for their safety. They wished to stay anonymous so their names will not be used.
The two men, who are relatives both in their 20s, say they were trying to help a woman Fortner was with. They said they saw her nose bleeding, her clothes roughed up and saw Fortner forcing her into the car.
"That's when I told him, 'I'll beat the [expletive] out you if you put your hands on her again,' and he told me, 'I'll put two in you,'" the younger relative says. ""That means two shots, so, yeah, I feared for my life."
"This gonna be it. My life was flashing between my eyes," says the other witness. "I'm traumatized by that. I've been shot in my head before and just the fear of being shot again and not living this time really just didn't sit right with me."
Prosecutors say it was around 2:15 Saturday morning when Fortner pointed his weapon at the two guys.
"Once he pulled the gun out on us and we took cover, the police was pulling like right up Beaubien [Street]. ... I'm not sure if they seen [him pulling his weapon] but I know that the timeframe from him trying to put the gun back up in the trunk and them pulling up was a split second."
Now, after stepping in to help they say they don't want anyone knowing who they are.
"For this guy to come looking for me, he's kinda like a thought in the back of my head."
"He might look me up, anything. Identity, find out where I stay at, have his police officer friends come get us, whatever."
Fortner, who's been with the force for two years, has been in jail since. He was arraigned on the charges Monday.
He's been charged with two counts of Felonious Assault, two counts of Felony Firearm, and one count of misdemeanor Domestic Violence.
Detroit Police say both an internal and a criminal investigation have been launched.
Detroit PD Officer Willie Fortner due in court Monday after allegedly assaulting girlfriend
Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV
June 04, 2018
Detroit police officer Willie Fortner due in court Monday after allegedly assaulting girlfriend
Officer Willie Fortner - Guilty of domestic violence, sentenced to two years probation
Click On Detroit - WDIV News
October 10, 2018
Detroit PD Officer Willie Fortner - Sentenced to 2 years probation for domestic violence
Michigan Department Of Corrections
October 10, 2018
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