WillyBWright
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Firefighters Face Hate Crime Charges<br /><br />They threatened man with gun, used slurs, police say<br /><br />By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ<br />denriquez@journalsentinel.com<br />Posted: April 22, 2005<br /><br />Waukesha - Hate crime charges were filed Friday against two North Lake Fire Department members accused of pointing a gun and verbally abusing a black man from Milwaukee while he was fishing in the Oconomowoc River.<br /><br />Mark Bratton (right), his nephew Julius Bratton, sister Levina Bratton (left), and fiancée Debra Brown are shown Thursday at Mark Brattons home on N. 64th St. They were involved in a dispute with the North Lake Fire Department chief and a firefighter. <br /><br />North Lake Fire Department Chief Terry Stapleton sits with his dog, Major, at his home in the Town of Merton on Thursday. <br /> <br />Fire Chief Terrence J. Stapleton was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing justice on accusations he lied to investigators to cover up the actions of another firefighter. Both charges are misdemeanors, but the disorderly conduct charge was enhanced as a hate crime, meaning Stapleton could get up to one year of prison on that charge if he is convicted.<br /><br />Mark J. Weber, a North Lake volunteer firefighter, was charged with reckless use of a weapon. That crime was raised from a misdemeanor to a felony when it was enhanced as a hate crime. Weber could receive a sentence of up to two years in prison on that charge. He also was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer, which also could bring another year in prison.<br /><br />Both men also could face thousands of dollars in fines.<br /><br />"We're sending a strong signal that the law enforcement community will not tolerate behavior like this," District Attorney Paul Bucher said during a Friday news conference.<br /><br />"We're not used to this (kind of behavior) anywhere, especially in Waukesha County," Sheriff Daniel Trawicki said at the conference. "This is not indicative of what happens here."<br /><br />Bucher said the hate crime enhancers are rarely used in the state, but he felt that the alleged actions of Stapleton and Weber against Mark Bratton, who was fishing Tuesday evening with family members at the Monches Mill Pond on rural Highway E in the Town of Merton, were so serious that the enhanced penalties were warranted.<br /><br />Bucher said the handgun that allegedly was pointed at Bratton was not found, although a number of witnesses claim to have seen it.<br /><br />Stapleton, 65, chief of the North Lake Department for 31 years, must make an initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court on the charges on May 2. Weber, 41, was expected to surrender himself to authorities late Friday. Both men live in the Town of Merton.<br /><br />Frantic 911 call<br />A tape of the emergency 911 call shows that a distraught Bratton feared for his life as a dispatcher tried to calm him down.<br /><br />He yelled that one firefighter had threatened him with a handgun and the other chased him with a German shepherd. He said both men shouted racial slurs at him.<br /><br />"These guys, they're pulling a gun on me. I'm out here fishing and this guy pulls a gun on me." <br /><br />He later told the emergency dispatcher: "One of them had a gun, the other one was chasing me with a big dog. We were just fishing, and he pulled up and he called us (racial slur). He said, 'Get out my town.' I said: 'We fishing. I'm not going nowhere.'<br /><br />"He told me, he said I got two minutes to get out of my town. I said, 'I'm not going anywhere.'<br /><br />"I said, 'Look, we isn't bothering you.' "<br /><br />Witnesses say they saw gun<br />According to the criminal complaint:<br /><br />Weber, who was in his truck, approached Bratton and told him to get out of town. When Bratton refused, Weber responded, "You are lucky it is not dark," and pointed a handgun at his chest from a distance of just four feet. Bratton fled to the back of his vehicle.<br /><br />Levina Bratton, the fisherman's sister, told investigators that she, too, saw the handgun. Two men who passed by the scene told investigators that they saw a gun, and one identified it as a 9mm handgun.<br /><br />Weber exited his truck and walked toward Bratton, who did not see his alleged assailant carrying the weapon. But Bratton did see Stapleton coming at him with his dog, Major, who came within 12 inches as Stapleton said, "I'm tired of seeing you (expletive) coming to my town," according to the complaint.<br /><br />A woman, Theresa Bowen, who lives near the mill pond, then came out of her home and the two men backed off. Weber told Bratton, "That will teach you for spitting at me and throwing things at my vehicle," and both men then left the scene, the complaint says.<br /><br />Bowen told investigators that she saw the men and the dog chasing "a colored man," the complaint says.<br /><br />When police arrived, Bratton gave them the license number to Weber's truck.<br /><br />A Chenequa police officer drove to the North Lake Fire Station in the community of North Lake and asked a man outside of the station if Mark Weber was in the area, and the man responded that he was not. When the man was further questioned by the officer, he admitted to being Weber.<br /><br />He denied having a firearm and said his actions were in response to being spit on by Bratton, who had no business "being out there."<br /><br />Weber refused to give investigators his shirt that allegedly contained Bratton's saliva, the complaint says.<br /><br />Investigators searched Weber's home but found only a case on a nightstand next to a bed that possibly was for the handgun in question, the complaint says. When questioned about the location of the gun, Weber told police that they no longer had his consent to search his home.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Stapleton told investigators that he was driving when he noticed Weber and Bratton arguing. He then got his dog on a leash and told Bratton to leave. Using a derogatory term for blacks, Stapleton said he used Major because blacks "don't like dogs."<br /><br />During the entire interview with a sheriff's investigator, Stapleton repeatedly used a derogatory term for African-Americans.<br /><br />Story changed, complaint says<br />At a follow-up interview, Stapleton was confronted about discrepancies in his story and he then admitted to trying to cover up for Weber, the complaint says.<br /><br />Stapleton revised his story, saying that Weber came to the fire station about 7 p.m. Tuesday and told Stapleton that a fisherman had spit on him and he was going back to the mill pond "to whip his ***."<br /><br />Stapleton said he initially refused to go with Weber, but after a few minutes decided to help Weber, the complaint says. Stapleton was the first to arrive at the pond, which explains why Bratton saw Stapleton's truck before seeing Weber. Stapleton insisted that he went there to prevent a fight. The closest the dog got to Bratton was within 16 to 20 feet, Stapleton told investigators.<br /><br /> 
As a lifelong Wisconsin resident, I am embarassed and shamed by this outrageous act of blatant Racism! I expect to hear such things from Mississippi, not Wisconsin. <br /><br /> I hope the next thing those lying bigots hear from their superiors is "YOU'RE FIRED!" <br />(I know, you can't fire a volunteer.)
As a lifelong Wisconsin resident, I am embarassed and shamed by this outrageous act of blatant Racism! I expect to hear such things from Mississippi, not Wisconsin. <br /><br /> I hope the next thing those lying bigots hear from their superiors is "YOU'RE FIRED!" <br />(I know, you can't fire a volunteer.)
