Killbot
08-05-2006, 01:59 AM
Couple of glaring inaccuracies and conflations… For example, the article uses the description for the P90 and liberally apples it to the PS90, a semiauto version with a significantly longer barrel. It also makes it sound like he tried to get a P90, but on the link it clearly states it was a PS90 – big difference.
I suggest emailing the author with some suggested corrections.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=480320
Jon Bartlett, a fired Milwaukee police officer who already was facing charges in the Frank Jude Jr. beating and in a telephoned bomb threat, was charged Friday with breaking federal law by trying to buy a submachine gun and a handgun at a West Allis gun shop.
Bartlett, 34, also tried to buy 875 bullets and large-capacity ammunition magazines for the weapons, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in federal court in Milwaukee.
Bartlett appeared in federal court Friday afternoon, charged with making a false statement to a federal gun dealer. A federal magistrate concluded that the amount of firepower Bartlett tried to buy showed he may be a danger to society and ordered him held without bail until at least next week.
If convicted, Bartlett faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Late Friday, Bartlett was charged in state court with two counts of felony bail jumping. Each count carries a possible prison sentence of six years, plus a $10,000 fine. He is now charged with felonies in four cases.
Among the bail conditions set for Bartlett while he awaits trial on separate felony charges was that he couldn't commit a crime. According to a criminal complaint signed Friday, Bartlett violated the bail conditions in each case when he checked the gun-purchase application's box denying he was "under indictment or information in any court for a felony."
Bartlett, who was fired 15 months ago, continues to receive full pay and benefits under a state law unique to fired Milwaukee officers. A recent report found no other similar law in the country.
Bartlett remains charged with substantial battery in the Jude beating after a jury failed to reach a verdict on that charge in April. In a separate case, he was charged with calling in a bomb threat to his former police district station. The trial on the bomb threat is set to begin Aug. 14 in Madison.
Bartlett and other officers also are being investigated in connection with possible federal charges in the Jude beating, which happened in October 2004 at a party for off-duty officers in the Bay View neighborhood. Bartlett was accused of terrorizing Jude with a knife and kicking him so hard in the head that bones cracked, according to the state criminal complaint.
Standard background check
In the gun case, Bartlett has been accused of lying on a background purchase form at the Shooters Shop. Federal law prohibits anyone who has a felony conviction or pending felony charge from buying a gun. On the form, Bartlett indicated he had no convictions or charges pending.
The complaint says Bartlett went to the Shooters Shop on July 26 and ordered a Herstal P90 submachine gun and a semiautomatic handgun. Herstal's Web site describes the semiautomatic P90 as able "to defeat the enemy in all close combat situations in urban areas, jungle conditions, night missions and any self defense action."
A Shooters Shop employee called Bartlett on Thursday and told him he was rejected. Bartlett came into the store that day to file an appeal, saying he was probably denied because he put down an incorrect address, the complaint says.
Bartlett also tried to buy a case of ammunition and larger-than-standard magazines for each weapon: a 50-round magazine for the submachine gun and three 20-round magazines for the pistol.
Bartlett charged the sale price of $4,501.73 to his credit card, according to the affidavit of Shelly St. Jacques, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
ATF agents arrested Bartlett Friday morning. He was led into court, handcuffed and flanked by four U.S. marshals, Friday afternoon. During a brief hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron E. Goodstein granted Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Frohling's request that Bartlett be temporarily held without bail.
The amount of ammunition and the larger magazines ordered caused "a real concern that something dangerous may be afoot," Frohling said.
Bartlett's wife, Michele Bartlett, told authorities Friday morning that he had additional guns in his apartment, Frohling said.
Defense attorney Bridget Boyle said it was natural for someone who had chosen a career in law enforcement to be interested in guns and said despite the charges pending against Bartlett, no one had asked him to turn in his other weapons.
Boyle said she does not know Bartlett to have "any type of violent nature in his background." She added that sometimes the questions on the federal forms get lost in translation.
An employee who answered a call at the Shooters Shop Friday declined to comment on the case.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett praised the store for stopping the purchase.
"I am very thankful that the Shooters Shop was so diligent in following federal law," he said.
Push to change law failed
Bartlett and other fired officers are paid until their appeals are exhausted, under a 26-year-old law. A push to change the law died in the state Legislature this year. Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) refused to put it to a vote because there wasn't enough support, he said.
Gard, who has received campaign donations from the police union, then supported a limited version of the bill, which passed the Assembly but died before making it to the full Senate. No action can happen on the issue until next year at the earliest.
The mayor said Bartlett's latest charges show the need for a change.
"How many times does this guy have to break the law before the state stops requiring Milwaukee taxpayers to pay him?" Barrett said. "Basically, the taxpayers of Milwaukee are being required to pay for those guns."
Milwaukee police union President John Balcerzak said there are problems with the law and the union would sit down with city and state lawmakers to address them. But he declined to say whether Bartlett should be paid.
"It is a bigger issue than just one person," he said.
The charges are the latest trouble for Bartlett, who faced the most serious charges in the Jude case and has been cited as an example of why Milwaukee police-hiring reform was needed.
Bartlett and co-defendants Andrew Spengler and Daniel Masarik did not receive any psychological screening or have an oral interview before they were hired by the city.
The Fire and Police Commission overhauled its psychological screening of prospective officers after the Journal Sentinel reported that Milwaukee was out of step with other cities.
Bartlett was hired by Milwaukee police in 1999 even though he was demoted by a university police department, received poor work reviews from the state Department of Natural Resources and was convicted of fleeing police.
In November 1992 in Fish Creek, a police officer tried to stop Bartlett, then 20, for speeding, according to a criminal complaint; Bartlett accelerated his motorcycle to about 80 mph, dodged the officer, then put his bike in a ditch, covered it with branches and headed into the woods. As the deputy discovered the motorcycle, Bartlett surrendered.
Bartlett worked for the Department of Natural Resources in 1993 but didn't make a great impression on his bosses, according to federal court files. His supervisors there said he had problems with his attitude, they said.
Similar problems surfaced with Bartlett's next employer, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Police Department, where he started in 1994. He rose from communications operator and security officer to police officer but then was demoted. He moved back to officer and then was hired by Milwaukee police.
In a three-month period in 2002, Bartlett - department firearms instructor - was involved in three incidents in which he used force, including the fatal shooting of Larry Jenkins in 2002.
Bartlett and his partner stopped a car Jenkins was riding in. Jenkins fled to another car. Bartlett said he shot Jenkins, who was unarmed, because he thought Jenkins would run over him. Jenkins' family said he was trying to avoid getting shot. Bartlett was not disciplined or charged in the shooting.
In a civil lawsuit filed by Jenkins' family, a jury this year found Bartlett acted appropriately.
In the Jude trial, Bartlett testified to cutting off Jude's coat and hitting him but said it was a "by-the-book" arrest.
Jude was accused at the party of taking a police badge. Jude says he never took the badge, no badge was found at the scene and he was not charged with any crime related to the incident.
Unless Bartlett's bail in the earlier state cases is revoked and he is taken into state custody, Goodstein will convene a full bail hearing Thursday.
Derrick Nunnally of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
I suggest emailing the author with some suggested corrections.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=480320
Jon Bartlett, a fired Milwaukee police officer who already was facing charges in the Frank Jude Jr. beating and in a telephoned bomb threat, was charged Friday with breaking federal law by trying to buy a submachine gun and a handgun at a West Allis gun shop.
Bartlett, 34, also tried to buy 875 bullets and large-capacity ammunition magazines for the weapons, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in federal court in Milwaukee.
Bartlett appeared in federal court Friday afternoon, charged with making a false statement to a federal gun dealer. A federal magistrate concluded that the amount of firepower Bartlett tried to buy showed he may be a danger to society and ordered him held without bail until at least next week.
If convicted, Bartlett faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Late Friday, Bartlett was charged in state court with two counts of felony bail jumping. Each count carries a possible prison sentence of six years, plus a $10,000 fine. He is now charged with felonies in four cases.
Among the bail conditions set for Bartlett while he awaits trial on separate felony charges was that he couldn't commit a crime. According to a criminal complaint signed Friday, Bartlett violated the bail conditions in each case when he checked the gun-purchase application's box denying he was "under indictment or information in any court for a felony."
Bartlett, who was fired 15 months ago, continues to receive full pay and benefits under a state law unique to fired Milwaukee officers. A recent report found no other similar law in the country.
Bartlett remains charged with substantial battery in the Jude beating after a jury failed to reach a verdict on that charge in April. In a separate case, he was charged with calling in a bomb threat to his former police district station. The trial on the bomb threat is set to begin Aug. 14 in Madison.
Bartlett and other officers also are being investigated in connection with possible federal charges in the Jude beating, which happened in October 2004 at a party for off-duty officers in the Bay View neighborhood. Bartlett was accused of terrorizing Jude with a knife and kicking him so hard in the head that bones cracked, according to the state criminal complaint.
Standard background check
In the gun case, Bartlett has been accused of lying on a background purchase form at the Shooters Shop. Federal law prohibits anyone who has a felony conviction or pending felony charge from buying a gun. On the form, Bartlett indicated he had no convictions or charges pending.
The complaint says Bartlett went to the Shooters Shop on July 26 and ordered a Herstal P90 submachine gun and a semiautomatic handgun. Herstal's Web site describes the semiautomatic P90 as able "to defeat the enemy in all close combat situations in urban areas, jungle conditions, night missions and any self defense action."
A Shooters Shop employee called Bartlett on Thursday and told him he was rejected. Bartlett came into the store that day to file an appeal, saying he was probably denied because he put down an incorrect address, the complaint says.
Bartlett also tried to buy a case of ammunition and larger-than-standard magazines for each weapon: a 50-round magazine for the submachine gun and three 20-round magazines for the pistol.
Bartlett charged the sale price of $4,501.73 to his credit card, according to the affidavit of Shelly St. Jacques, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
ATF agents arrested Bartlett Friday morning. He was led into court, handcuffed and flanked by four U.S. marshals, Friday afternoon. During a brief hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron E. Goodstein granted Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Frohling's request that Bartlett be temporarily held without bail.
The amount of ammunition and the larger magazines ordered caused "a real concern that something dangerous may be afoot," Frohling said.
Bartlett's wife, Michele Bartlett, told authorities Friday morning that he had additional guns in his apartment, Frohling said.
Defense attorney Bridget Boyle said it was natural for someone who had chosen a career in law enforcement to be interested in guns and said despite the charges pending against Bartlett, no one had asked him to turn in his other weapons.
Boyle said she does not know Bartlett to have "any type of violent nature in his background." She added that sometimes the questions on the federal forms get lost in translation.
An employee who answered a call at the Shooters Shop Friday declined to comment on the case.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett praised the store for stopping the purchase.
"I am very thankful that the Shooters Shop was so diligent in following federal law," he said.
Push to change law failed
Bartlett and other fired officers are paid until their appeals are exhausted, under a 26-year-old law. A push to change the law died in the state Legislature this year. Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) refused to put it to a vote because there wasn't enough support, he said.
Gard, who has received campaign donations from the police union, then supported a limited version of the bill, which passed the Assembly but died before making it to the full Senate. No action can happen on the issue until next year at the earliest.
The mayor said Bartlett's latest charges show the need for a change.
"How many times does this guy have to break the law before the state stops requiring Milwaukee taxpayers to pay him?" Barrett said. "Basically, the taxpayers of Milwaukee are being required to pay for those guns."
Milwaukee police union President John Balcerzak said there are problems with the law and the union would sit down with city and state lawmakers to address them. But he declined to say whether Bartlett should be paid.
"It is a bigger issue than just one person," he said.
The charges are the latest trouble for Bartlett, who faced the most serious charges in the Jude case and has been cited as an example of why Milwaukee police-hiring reform was needed.
Bartlett and co-defendants Andrew Spengler and Daniel Masarik did not receive any psychological screening or have an oral interview before they were hired by the city.
The Fire and Police Commission overhauled its psychological screening of prospective officers after the Journal Sentinel reported that Milwaukee was out of step with other cities.
Bartlett was hired by Milwaukee police in 1999 even though he was demoted by a university police department, received poor work reviews from the state Department of Natural Resources and was convicted of fleeing police.
In November 1992 in Fish Creek, a police officer tried to stop Bartlett, then 20, for speeding, according to a criminal complaint; Bartlett accelerated his motorcycle to about 80 mph, dodged the officer, then put his bike in a ditch, covered it with branches and headed into the woods. As the deputy discovered the motorcycle, Bartlett surrendered.
Bartlett worked for the Department of Natural Resources in 1993 but didn't make a great impression on his bosses, according to federal court files. His supervisors there said he had problems with his attitude, they said.
Similar problems surfaced with Bartlett's next employer, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Police Department, where he started in 1994. He rose from communications operator and security officer to police officer but then was demoted. He moved back to officer and then was hired by Milwaukee police.
In a three-month period in 2002, Bartlett - department firearms instructor - was involved in three incidents in which he used force, including the fatal shooting of Larry Jenkins in 2002.
Bartlett and his partner stopped a car Jenkins was riding in. Jenkins fled to another car. Bartlett said he shot Jenkins, who was unarmed, because he thought Jenkins would run over him. Jenkins' family said he was trying to avoid getting shot. Bartlett was not disciplined or charged in the shooting.
In a civil lawsuit filed by Jenkins' family, a jury this year found Bartlett acted appropriately.
In the Jude trial, Bartlett testified to cutting off Jude's coat and hitting him but said it was a "by-the-book" arrest.
Jude was accused at the party of taking a police badge. Jude says he never took the badge, no badge was found at the scene and he was not charged with any crime related to the incident.
Unless Bartlett's bail in the earlier state cases is revoked and he is taken into state custody, Goodstein will convene a full bail hearing Thursday.
Derrick Nunnally of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.