Also See:
Commissioner Kurt Kramer charged with domestic violence [ November 17, 2000]
Commissioner Kurt Kramer charged for assaulting police officer [January 2001]
Commisioner Kurt Kramer charged with domestic violence [November 26, 2002]
Macomb County official to undergo counseling
Detroit Free Press
December 23, 2003
BY ALEXA CAPELOTO
http://www.freep.com/news/locmac/comm23_20031223.htm
A Macomb County commissioner is to spend 30 weeks in domestic violence counseling under a plea deal stemming from a June confrontation with his girlfriend that ended in a car collision.
Roland Fraschetti, a St. Clair Shores Republican, pleaded guilty Friday to reckless driving, a 90-day misdemeanor. The charge will be reduced to careless driving, a civil infraction, if he successfully completes the counseling.
Fraschetti was accused of backing his SUV into his girlfriend's Saturn sedan with such force that it rolled onto the hood of the smaller car. The two had just argued and were in the driveway of a St. Clair Shores home owned by Fraschetti. No one was seriously injured.
"The victim didn't want me to charge him at all," said Joseph McCarthy Jr. of the St. Clair County Prosecutor's Office, which handled the case because of Fraschetti's position in Macomb County. "I told her I have to do something to make sure this doesn't happen again."
A judge will take Fraschetti's guilty plea under advisement while the commissioner attends weekly group counseling sessions run by Catholic Social Services of St. Clair County. Any failure to finish the program could result in a reckless driving conviction.
Sebastian Lucido, Fraschetti's attorney, said his client considers the deal a proper end to what essentially was a car accident. "They got into an argument and it got heated, but he never laid a finger on her," Lucido said. "The man does not have a violent bone in his body." What really happened, Lucido said, is that "she was in a car behind him and just pulled up. When he hit the car, he was at fault."
With the careless driving infraction, Fraschetti faces three points on his driving record and a $100 fine. He must also pay $750 for the counseling program, which is the same one Commissioner Kurt Kramer was ordered into after pleading no contest to assaulting his wife in June.
OFFICIAL AGREES TO COUNSELING
Detroit Free Press
December 17, 2002
December 17, 2002 •• 428 words •• ID: 0212170250. Detroit Free Press. Four days after being sworn in as a Macomb County Commissioner, Kurt Kramer appeared in court on domestic violence charges and agreed to seek counseling with his wife. His pretrial hearing Monday at 42-2 District Court in Mt. Clemens was adjourned by Judge Paul Cassidy after Kramer's lawyer said he would seek counseling with his wife, who wants to reconcile and save their marriage. Kramer, 47, was charged Nov. 27 after his wife, Russian native Lyubov Arestova, 34, told...
Man to take county post despite charges
Commissioner-elect is facing 2 abuse counts
December 5, 2002
BY MARY OWEN AND NANCY
DETROIT FREE PRESS
http://www.freep.com/news/locmac/kramer5_20021205.htm
A newly elected Macomb County commissioner will face a judge on domestic violence charges days after he is sworn into office.
Kurt Kramer, 47, was charged Nov. 27 with two counts of domestic violence and released the next day on $300 bond. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 in 42-2 District Court, which is temporarily located in Mt. Clemens.
His wife, Russia native Lyubov Arestova, 34, told police that her husband attacked her Nov. 26 after she refused to take off her clothes and pose for nude photographs, according to police documents.
One of his previous wives, Oxana Kramer, a Ukrainian mail-order bride, obtained a personal protection order against him almost two years ago, said Chesterfield Township Police Lt. Dave Marker. Kramer has been married four times.
While being charged with a misdemeanor doesn't prevent a commissioner from serving on the board under county rules, some of Kramer's future colleagues are wary of the bad publicity that follows such allegations.
"People have a negative enough image of politics without having this happen," said Commissioner Diana Kolakowski of Sterling Heights. "It doesn't exactly support the family values platform."
But Commissioner Mike Sessa of Harrison Township, who bailed Kramer out of jail, said people are unfairly assuming that Kramer is guilty. He noted that Kramer is the sole caregiver of his 80-year-old father. "I can't understand why this would happen to him," said Sessa, who has known Kramer for four years. "I would give him the benefit of the doubt."
Kramer of New Baltimore said he plans to attend the Dec. 12 swearing-in ceremony and take his seat Jan.1. He said his personal life will not interfere with his commission duties.
He listed his job priorities as road improvements and finding a permanent location for the 42-2 District Court, temporarily housed in the county jail. "Give me a chance to prove myself," Kramer said. "I plan to do what they elected me to do."
Kramer, an Air Force reservist, said he and Arestova were the perfect couple during his successful bid for Macomb County's 14th District, which includes Chesterfield Township, Lenox Township, New Baltimore and New Haven Village.
The Republican beat Democrat Wendy Iacobelli for the seat being vacated by commission Chairman John Hertel, who announced his resignation in May.
Arestova, who Kramer said has been learning English since she arrived in the United States, helped with mailings and neighborhood walks and attended victory parties, Kramer said. But soon after, Arestova became short-tempered, he said. Kramer said Wednesday that he hasn't seen his wife since the incident.
He said the trouble began when he asked if he could put some of her clothes, which smelled like cigarette smoke, in their enclosed porch because the smell was bothering him. Kramer said she stormed out of their bedroom wearing only a robe and went to her son's room where she changed and later threatened to tell police he had tried to rip her clothes off.
On Wednesday evening, Arestova said, "It's a very bad situation." She declined further comment, saying her English is bad and her social worker could better explain her side of the story.
Police were called to the scene by Arestova's 14-year-old son who said Kramer choked him, Marker said.
Kramer, a jet fueler at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, said he met Arestova through a friend when he was vacationing in Russia in June 2001. They communicated for a while before she came to the United States with her son. The couple lived together for about six months before marrying in January. Kramer believes the couple could still work things out.
Ex-wife Oxana Kramer sought a personal protection order against him in January 2001. But he assaulted a police officer who went to Kramer's house to serve the papers, according to police reports. Kramer pleaded guilty to the assault and battery charge. He served one year of probation to the misdemeanor charge.
The commission seat is Kramer's first elected post. He served briefly on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in the early 1990s, when he lived in Oak Park. He was appointed to complete a term left vacant by a commissioner who died. Kramer lost his 1994re-election bid for the seat.
