A story from WEAU-TV at http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/New_median_angers_Eau_Claire_businesses_128709008.html
details the concerns of the owner of Queens Dry Cleaners on Hastings Way. A new median on Brackett is blocking access to the back entrance of the dry cleaner/laundromat on Donnellan Lane.
The last Chicken Unlimited in the United States located on Hastings Way in Eau Claire has closed its doors due to the construction. It is unknown if this business will reopen once construction is complete in several months. Other Hastings Way businesses are also in danger of closing. The Consumers Cooperative Association (Mega) is betting the farm by building a new grocery store on Hastings Way in spite of losses in the last year. Perhaps Mega hopes that the increased bicycle and pedestrian traffic that the Hastings Way project will produce will be its salvation.
These expensive, short lived street lights are appearing all over the city of Eau Claire. Why? Whose idea is it to install these lights in the city? With the poor economy why is the city doing this? The city is wasting taxpayers money on these lights. Is some city official getting a kickback for buying these lights or is it sheer stupidity?
We are in of one of the greatest economic downturns since the Great Depression. What does the City of Eau Claire want to do during this economic low? Build a luxurious upgrade to Hastings Way! Note the fancy landscaping to Hastings Way that is proposed. Note also the infamous inverted flower shaped street lights that the city wants. These same lights have caused a controversy in other parts of the city including the downtown area. These street lights are MUCH more expensive then standard ones and also have a MUCH shorter life.
Who is going to pay for all of this niceness? In the turning over of this right of way from the State of Wisconsin to the City of Eau Claire, the state is only providing funding to rebuild the basic highway. This does not include bike trails, fancy street lights, fancy landscaping, and other luxuries. The City of Eau Claire has to pay for these amenities! And the city can recover the costs of these “improvements” from property owners in the form of special assessments. These assessments may be prohibitively high.
Hastings Way businesses may also face:
Regis High School also faces special assessments despite the fact that they are property tax exempt.
Only time will tell how this will affect Hastings Way businesses and Regis High School. The City of Eau Claire does not care about local businesses or jobs. They are only concerned about having a “pretty city”.
The tax assessor? No. The Eau Claire City-County Heatlh Department! What citizens don’t realize is that the department does a photographic survey of certain neighborhoods in the city. The department is looking for violations of various City of Eau Claire ordinances. This includes detoriating chimneys, peeling paint, bad foundations, and other ordinance violations. Are they just doing this to the “college rental” areas? No, this is citywide and does not include newer parts of the city AND high income neighborhoods. All houses in the survey area are photographed, each house by itself. Although this department is part of Eau Claire County, no survey is done outside the city of Eau Claire.
Want to know if your neighborhood is in this survey? Call Courtney Johnson at the Eau Claire City-County Heath Department at (715) 839-4718. You also have the right to view any of the pictures taken under the Freedom of Information Act.
The alley house number ordinance controversy has made front psge news in the Tuesday, October 5, 2010 edition of thr Leader-Telegram. The web version of the article is here: http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_5b87d8e3-c59d-5f59-995e-6e8fbaa7f406.html
(Leader-Telegram subscription required to read the full text.
Despite what the City Attorney Stephen Nick stated in the article, (He said that only one set of numbers is needed facing the alley.) an assistant attorney in his office stated that numbers are needed on all buildings with an entrance facing the alley. This would mean that a detached garage would also need its own set of house numbers.
Don’t laugh. Such a new ordinance would provide for even much better police and fire protection then alley side house numbers on all of your buildings facing the alley. Do a Google search on “illuminated house numbers”. There are many such products. Look for someone on our city council bringing this idea up.
Despite disclaimers on this web site and in this blog, people are still reporting crimes via email to us. Please note that as soon as we realize an email is a report of any crime, we will STOP reading and delete such email at once and make sure that the email is destroyed both locally, using DOD security wipes, and on the server. We will not forward any such emails to law enforcement or acknowledge their receipt. WE ARE NOT the Eau Claire Police Department!! IF YOU WISH TO REPORT A CRIME, PLEASE CALL 911, CALL THE EAU CLAIRE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER, OR CALL THE EAU CLAIRE CONFIDENTIAL TIPSTER LINE.
The ordinance requires that house numbers are to be placed on ALL buildings adjacent to an alley. This means you have to get house numbers for your house AND your detached garage. Any other buildings will also require numbers.
Eau Claire city residents who have a home with an entrance or exit to an alley got a letter in mail stating that the City Council updated an ordinance to require such homes to display house numbers on the REAR of the home facing the alley. Of course, local media did not cover this change in the ordinance. This has also taken local hardware stores and Menards by surprise. A spokeperson for Menards told Eau Claire Police Watch that they will NOT be able to supply house numbers for the THOUSANDS of Eau Claire residents who have a alley facing house by the stated October 15th deadline. Will this mean that the shortage of house numbers will bring a bonanza of fines for the city from residents that can’t comply because of such a shortage?
Remember this is not just for “fire protection”. This will also assist the Eau Claire Police Department. This will make it easier for the ECPD to raid your home for non payment of child support, unreturned library books, or for some other reason.
The rumors of the death of this site have been greatly exaggerated. We are still here and are still watching the Eau Claire Police Department. Luckily for the residents of Eau Claire things were quite quiet for the city in regards to the ECPD. No officer involved scandals or anything else during the year. Let us hope that things stay that way.
Please feel free to send your reports.
Oh, remember that scandal in which a ECPD employee was caught stealing money from the soda pop fund? Well nothing became of that and the whole matter was swept under the rug. The ECPD still needs to be watched closely.
Yes, Eau Claire Police Watch is still here and we are going to cover stories about the Eau Claire Police Department. Please continue to send your reports to report@eauclairepolicewatch.com We are not going away!
The local news media has failed to identify the officers involved in this case. Here is a list of the four involved law enforcement officers:
Eau Claire Police Department:
Officer Kristopher K. O’Neill
Officer David Kleinhans
Eau Claire County Sheriff Department:
Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Rodney Stearns
Deputy Sheriff Joel Bredigan
Source: Eau Claire County Court
As reported by the Leader-Telegram at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-ros.asp?id=BIEL689EGSD , an Altoona, Wisconsin man filed a civil lawsuit against four police officers for false arrest, false imprisonment, negligence, and defamation. The lawsuit names two Eau Claire Police Department officers, two Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Department deputies, and both the City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County as defendants. Read the Leader-Telegram article above for full details of the incident and the complaint filed by Arthur J. Thompson of Altoona, Wisconsin.
This is another case of civil rights violations committed by the Eau Claire Police Department. The police can break into your house without probable cause and arrest you for no reason. What is even scarier is that law enforcement has the full support of the Eau Claire County’s District Attorney’s Office led by DA Richard White. Residents of the city of Eau Claire and perhaps all of Eau Claire County definitely have something else to fear about. It is not the criminal element but the danger from those that are supposed “to protect and to serve” the residents of Eau Claire County. We still predict that something tragic is going occur. Will it take a death of a truly innocent citizen to change what is happening in Eau Claire? The only way change can occur is an investigation of local law enforcement by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the FBI. May God watch over the good citizens of Eau Claire!
Followup: The Leader-Telegram has a discussion going on about this incident at the above link. We invite you to go there and post your concerns. Also the case number for this civil lawsuit is 2008CV001043. You can check up on the status of this case at http://wcca.wicourts.gov.
Update: Another discussion here: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/twincities-pioneer-press/T2PQGBV69Q9EQPG5V
We are pleased to announce our first blogroll entry entitled “Officer of the Year”. Read another blogger’s article on Eau Claire Police Officer Mike Glennon. The link is in our blogroll to the right side of the screen. Watch for future entries to our blogroll. If you wish to have your site added to our blogroll, send us an email at report@eauclairepolicewatch.com
A copy of the complaint filed by Scott Hegwood and Nasty Habit, Inc. against the City of Eau Claire, et al in Federal District Court, Western District of Wisconsin is now available for viewing or download in the Eau Claire Police Watch Legal Documents Library at http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com/library
The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported on November 1, 2008 about a Federal lawsuit filed against the Eau Claire Police Department and the City of Eau Claire by the Nasty Habit bar and its owner Scott Hegwood. The article is available here: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BI78FKRTGE9 The suit alleges that the city and department personnel discriminated and retaliated against the bar owner because he was aware of two officers engaging in infidelity in their squad cars while on duty. The complaint, which seeks unspecified damages, claims that retaliation and harassment by officers is the real reason the city revoked the tavern’s liquor license in 2006 after a series of run-ins with the police.
Eau Claire Police Watch will obtain a copy of the 41-page complaint and will publish it on this site. We will also keep you up to date as the case goes through the Federal Court system.
This web site has now been online for two years. The site was launched shortly after the officer involved shooting of Derek S. Kratlian on September 30, 2006. We thought that possibly this site would fade away for a lack of news about scandals relating to the Eau Claire Police Department. Unfortunately, we were wrong. There have been more developments in the last two years that have kept this site alive. From the Evan Zimmerman case, the Xiong K. Lee officer involved domestic violence case , the Leanne P. Doelle-Kent embezzlement affair, and now the Nasty Habit tavern allegations against the ECPD, more events have indicated that there are serious problems with the Eau Claire Police Department.
Eau Claire Police Watch remains committed to cover these stories. We will bring you information that the local media will not or is afraid to cover.
View full size: http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com/images/Jail.jpg
It seems to us there is a culture of corruption in Eau Claire County, the city of Eau Claire, and the Eau Claire School District. The county’s DA, Rich White has decided not to press charges against Bill Klaus, Carol Olson, and other people in the Eau Claire School District involved the document back dating scandal that would of allowed for early stipend retirement payments to Mr. Klaus. See: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BH10KIRGDT0
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/21430479.html
http://www.wqow.com/News/index.php?ID=23638
A copy of DAs Rich White decision is here: http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com/docs/D_ADecision.pdf
It seems like members of local government can get away with crimes with little impunity. Xiong K. Lee, a former police officer with the ECPD, got by with just a wrist slapping for domestic violence against his wife. (See articles below). And now Bill Klaus and his cohorts are going to get away with their attempts to defraud Eau Claire School District taxpayers. The employee that was stealing money from the Eau Claire Police Department, Leanne P. Doell-Kent, will most likely get away with her theft from the police departments soda pop fund.
Mr. White would no doubt prosecute any other citizen that is not a part of local government accused of similar crimes to the fullest extent of the law. This is very scary. The Eau Claire police and members of local government can do just about anything they want without repercussions. If they are caught they just get a slap on the wrist. The Eau Claire police can do anything they want. They can intimate, lie, steal, and perhaps even worse without worry that DA Rich White will do anything about it.
As reported by a citizen to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, another incident of a total disregard for public safety occurred in the city by the Eau Claire Police Department. Tracey Johnson wrote to the Voice of the People about an incident in which her husband suffered a heart attack and was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital. The hospital called the cardiac team at home to respond to the emergency. One of the team members on the way to the ER was pulled over by a ECPD officer for speeding. Despite showing her hospital I.D. and telling the officer that she was on the way to a cardiac emergency, the police officer made her sit there and wait and then gave her a speeding ticket. The letter is at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-opinions.asp?id=BGM1LN1DD2A .
Every second during a heart attack counts. Rather then detain and write a ticket, the officer should of escorted the medical professional to the hospital to respond to the life or death emergency. This is yet another example of the Eau Claire Police Department’s failure to protect and to serve the citizens of the city.
Leanne P. Doelle-Kent, a supervisor with the Eau Claire Police Department records division, has admitted to stealing $1,100 from the division’s soda pop fund. She resigned on April 7th. As part of the deal, Deputy Police Chief Eric Larsen has stated that the city will not recommend criminal charges. We will see how Eau Claire County DA Richard White handles this. We expect he will sweep this under the rug.
Eau Claire Police Watch contends that there is a culture of corruption in the Eau Claire Police Department. If you are a police officer or employee with this department, you can get by with crimes and if you are caught you just get away with a slap on the wrist or no punishment at all. We have received reports of Eau Claire police officers stealing from citizens. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about this. Who are you going to call? The Eau Claire Police Department?
News links on this story:
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BGGTKS1TCH8
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/18501334.html
Copy of Eau Claire Police Internal Investigation (Police Report) on this case
Despite the disclaimer at the bottom of http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com, some people think that we are an official Eau Claire Police Department website! Oh My! We even got a request from an out of state police officer that wanted to exchange uniform patches with someone from the ECPD!! Also, we have received some tips that were really meant for the Eau Claire Police. Please note that such emails are promptly deleted, no record made of, no reply made to, nor are they forwarded to anybody regardless of what information is contained within such messages. Please read the information in the warning box at the bottom of our homepage.
Unfortunately another officer involved shooting occured last month in Western Wisconsin. The shooting and its aftermath are reported in the following news links:
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BFSTGAONASK
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/16365441.html
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/15924927.html
Again this incident points out procedures that the Eau Claire Police Department does not follow. These include:
The deputies were placed on administrative leave until a review panel released its findings. In Eau Claire, in the last officer involved shooting, the officer was back on duty in only 30 hours after the incident! There was no review panel or outside review of the shooting. Also the Eau Claire County DA did no other investigation of the incident. He just parroted the findings of the ECPD in his final report. The police can put anything in a police report and the DA will not question it. Also, in the St. Croix county officer involved shooting, the deputies are under going counseling. The Eau Claire Police Department does not do this.
Eau Claire Police Watch still contends that the policies of the Eau Claire Police Department and the Eau Claire County DAs office places the citizens of the city of Eau Claire at risk.
Xiong K. Lee pled guilty to a felony count of Felony Intimidation of a Victim, Domestic Abuse and no contest to a charge of battery December 14, 2007 in Eau Claire County Court in the March 2007 officer involved domestic violence case. The felony charge could be dismissed in 18 months if Lee commits no new crimes and performs 40 hours of community service. For more information go to http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BF77HC1I7oD
DAGP is Deferred Acceptance of Guilty Plea. This program is used for youthful and first time offenders. Eau Claire Police Watch feels that the court was very leniant in this case. Other offenders would at least face a few days in the county jail. Probation was not ordered because Lee lives in Minnesota.
Did you know it is a crime to fail to return overdue materials to the L.E. Philips Memorial Public Library? Here is an excerpt from the City of Eau Claire Ordinances:
9.82.020 Failure to return library materials; removal of materials. A. No person shall fail, on
demand, to return any library material belonging to or in the charge of the L. E. Phillips Memorial Public
Library, (hereinafter referred to as library), or any of its branches according to the rules and regulations duly
made and adopted by the library board, and no person shall remove from the library or any of its branches any
library material without first having it charged as provided by such rules and regulations.
B. No person shall mar, deface, or in any other way damage or mutilate any library material belonging
to or in the charge of the library, or any of its branches. (Ord. 4142 (part), 1980).
9.82.030 Penalty. Any person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this chapter shall forfeit not
more than three hundred dollars and the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of such forfeiture and
the costs of prosecution, shall be imprisoned in the County Jail until payment of such forfeiture and costs of
prosecution are paid, but not for more than ninety days. Where there is more than one book, periodical,
pamphlet, picture or other article or property involved in any violation, each such item shall constitute a
separate offense. (Ord. 4142 (part), 1980).
Under this ordinance, the ECPD could come after you with a warrant for your arrest. Remember, library materials are the property of the City of Eau Claire. Given what happened with the arrest of Renaldo Watkins for a small amount of back child support, the ECPD could come to your home with a warrant for your arrest and even break down your door and invade your house if you don’t answer the door. (Even if you are asleep and don’t hear them knocking!)
Given the aggressive nature of the ECPD, Eau Claire Police Watch recommends that you return overdue materials to the library. If you can’t locate the library items that are overdue, be sure to pay for the lost materials and all fines as soon as possible.
Both the Eau Claire Police Department and the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram have distorted the dismissal of the Evan Zimmerman civil rights case as a vindication of the police department. A press release from the ECPD is here: http://www.ci.eau-claire.wi.us/e107_files/public/files/police/press/004371_news_release.pdf The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram published an editorial on Sunday, November 25, 2007 essentially stating that the dismissal of the case vindicated the Eau Claire Police Department and preserved its good reputation.
The real truth is this: Evan Zimmerman passed away last summer and his family did not want to pursue the appeal. They instructed the law firm of Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, IL to withdraw the appeal. The appeals court thus did not dismiss the case based on its merits. Loevy & Loevy spent many thousands of dollars in this case on the behath of Evan Zimmerman and felt an appeal of the original descision would be successful.
The news of Evan Zimmerman’s death was probably celebrated by the Eau Claire Police Department and Eau Claire city officials. If he was still alive the case would of continued.
Why did the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram print the editorial on November 25, 2007 stating that the Eau Claire Police Department was vindicated? Did the Eau Claire Police Department pressure the newspaper after it published the article about the arrest of Renaldo Watkins? http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BEQMQS5A7LI The Leader-Telegram is a family owned newspaper with close ties to the city. The newspaper operates a summer festival called “Sawdust City Days” which is held at the pleasure of the City of Eau Claire. If the paper would do something to offend the city, it would be easy for the city to yank the festival from the Leader-Telegram. Furthermore, the paper has close ties with the Eau Claire Police Department as evidenced by the information provided by the department for the paper’s Street Scenes column. Street Scenes provides off-beat police reports to entertain newspaper readers. Also, in the case of the officer involved shooting of Derek Kratlian in September 2006, the Leader-Telegram reported that Derek “could not hold down a job”. The real truth is that Derek was on Social Security Disability for medical reasons. You cannot get SSD or SSI benefits for simply not being able to hold down a job. In addition, the Leader-Telegram is aware of the ECPDs unusual policy in officer involved shootings as described here: http://blog.eauclairepolicewatch.com/?page_id=3 Unfortunately the paper does not want to or is afraid to discuss this issue.
Is the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram really afraid to offend the City of Eau Claire and its police department? We hope not.
The following article in the Voice of the People section was published in the editoral page on November 27, 2007 in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram concerning the controversial arrest of Renaldo Watkins by the Eau Claire police:
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-opinions.asp?id=BEUTOF4C87H
A previous letter from an Eau Claire police officer was printed in the Voice of the People that was heavy-handed and arrogant.
We will add links to any other Voice of the People articles about this incident to this posting in this blog.
The family of Evan Zimmerman requested the lawyers of Evan Zimmerman to dismiss the appeal of a lawsuit he filed before his death earlier this year. More on this can be read here:
An agreement has been reached between the defense and the State in the Xiong K. Lee officer involved domestic violence case. Xiong K. Lee would plea guilty to the misdemeanor charge of battery and enter a guilty plea under the Deferred Acceptance of Guilty Plea (DAGP) program to the felony charge of intimidation of a victim. If Xiong Lee meets the court’s requirements in the DAGP program, the felony charge could be dismissed. DAGP is often used in cases of first time or youthful offenders charged with a felony. A hearing on this plea is scheduled for December 14, 2007. The Eau Claire County Court has removed the trial from the court schedule.
WEAU TV 13 Link:
Eau Claire Police Watch has been online for one year now. The site has had many visitors from the Eau Claire area, across the country, and even world-wide. The site was started after the controversial Eau Claire officer involved shooting of Derek S. Kratlian on September 30, 2006. Since that incident there have been more controversy concerning the ECPD. This includes the Evan Zimmerman depositions of ECPD officers, the officer involved domestic violence incident concerning Eau Claire officer Xiong K. Lee, (The ECPD claims that polygraph tests help weed out officer candidates like Xiong Lee.) and now the child support arrest of Renaldo Watkins just late last month.
Eau Claire Police Watch predicts that there will be more such incidents in the future. The arrogrance of the ECPD is evident in the Evan Zimmerman depositions, statements made by the Eau Claire police in the media, and the actions of the ECPD.
The officer involved shooting policy of the ECPD is very dangerous. This policy includes:
1) No administrative leave for the officer involved in a shooting.
2) No required psychological debriefing for the officer involved in a shooting
3) No review of the case by an outside agency. The officer involved shooting in Chippewa county this last summer was reviewed by two outside agencies.
4) A district attorney that does no investigation of his own and just parrots information in the report given to him by the ECPD in his own final report.
As such, Eau Claire Police Watch predicts more deaths at the hands of Eau Claire police officers. With no oversight, all citizens in the city of Eau Claire at risk.
This story was reported in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram on Sunday, Novermber 4th, 2007 in the City/Region section page 1C. The story is available at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BEQMQS5A7LI
At about 5 p.m. October 21 four Eau Claire Police officers arrived at the house of Renaldo A. Watkins with a warrant for his arrest. They knocked on the door repeatly, asking Watkins to come out but got no answer. After ten minutes, two police officers used a battering ram to break down the door on the main floor of the house while the two other officers guarded two other doors. The two police rushed into Watkins living room with one drawing a handgun and the other drawing a Tazer. Watkins said he was asleep in the living room. He was put in handcuffs and the officers searched part of the house. Trycia Novak, Watkins fiancee, and her three children were outside watching the incident. Trycia was patted down and handcuffed as well. A police officer grabbed Watkins by the neck and shoved him into a squad car along with his fiancee and taken to the police station.
Why were these two people arrested? Watkins was behind on his child support and Novak was for obstructing an officer for lying to police about who was in the house.
Eau Claire police have defended their actions saying “they were doing their job”. Mr. Watkins is a black man. Is this a demonstration of racism by the Eau Claire police department? The Eau Claire Police Watch is going to follow this story to keep you up to date.
Xiong K. Lee’s trial is scheduled for November 28th , 2007 and a status conference is scheduled for November 8th, 2007.
Xiong K. Lee was arrainged in Eau Claire County Court today. His attorney, Harry R. Hertel, entered not guilty pleas on his behath. Status conference and jury trial will be scheduled in Branch 2 of Eau Claire County Court. In the meantime, counsel has ten days to file motions.
The arraignment hearing for Xiong K. Lee has been postponed again. The hearing is now scheduled for August 22nd at 2:00 PM.
Xiong K. Lee appeared in court July 17, 2007 and waived his right for a preliminary hearing. The court then scheduled his arraignment for August 7, 2007 at 9:30 AM.
Evan Zimmerman died Saturday, June 30th, 2007 after a short bout with cancer.
http://www.wqow.com/News/index.php?ID=12456
Xiong K. Lee appeared in Eau Claire County Court today. A preliminary hearing is now scheduled for July 17, 2007. (Updated)
The attorneys for Evan Zimmerman have reported that he is waiting for a decision from a Federal appeals court on whether he can move forward on his lawsuit against the City of Eau Claire. The case was heard by the appellate court last month and it could take up to a year for the court to annouce its decision.
The next hearing for Xiong K. Lee in the officer involved domestic violence case is scheduled for May 21, 2007.
Xiong K. Lee has resigned from the Eau Claire Police Department effective today. Court records indicate that he has moved to Columbia Heights, Minnesota. A hearing is scheduled in Eau Claire County court concerning charges of intimidation of a victim, battery, and disorderly conduct on May 7, 2007.
This story was never released to the Associated Press (AP) News Wire. Are certain local news outlets trying to protect the reputation of the Eau Claire Police Department? Can Eau Claire residents depend on these media sources to be fair and objective about any local issue?
It is very interesting how the local Eau Claire media has covered this new scandal with the Eau Claire Police Department.
WQOW TV-18, Eau Claire has provided excellent coverage both on the air and on their web site.
WEAU TV-13, Eau Claire has buried this story. It was mentioned on the Tuesday, March 25th, 2007 6PM local newcast and not posted on their website until later in the evening. The 10 PM newscast had no mention of this story.
The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram posted this story online Tuesday afternoon. However, the newspaper buried this story in section B on the bottom of the first page in the Wednesday, March 26th paper. The editors felt that the story about the Ski Sprites was more important then this scandal and put a Ski Sprites story on the front page of section A. Who cares about the Ski Sprites??
Here are some online news links for this case. This list will be updated on a continuing basis.
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=81018
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=81002
http://www.wqow.com/News/index.php?ID=9653
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/6723202.html
Officer Xiong K. Lee is a 13 year veteran of the Eau Claire Police Department. He is currently on paid suspension.
As reported in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=81002, police officer Xiong K. Lee, 35, was charged with a felony count of intimidation of a victim and misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct. The charges concern officer involved domestic violence. According to the criminal complaint, officer Lee threatened to kill his wife if she reported to police after that he injured her after he struck her during an argument in early March of this year.
A resource for survival of victims of officer involved domestic violence is available at http://www.abuseofpower.info/
Eau Claire Police Watch has now received the complete set of Eau Claire police depositions from the Evan Zimmerman case from the law firm of Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, IL. You can download the complete set of depositions in one ZIP file from the RapidShare hosting service at the following link: http://rapidshare.com/files/22591435/Depositions.zip Individual depositions can be downloaded from the Eau Claire Police Watch Legal Documents Library. In order to save time, if you want to download more then a few depositions from the library, we suggest you download the complete set from RapidShare.
As reported in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=80872, Eau Claire police officer Mike Glennon was presented with an award from the American Police and Hall of Fame Museum (http://aphf.org) in Titusville, Florida for his compassionate treatment of a homeless man in downtown Eau Claire. Officer Glennon is one of many men and women in the Eau Claire Police Department that serve and protect the citizens of Eau Claire with integrity and compassion.
Eau Claire Police Watch wishes that every Eau Claire police officer would serve the citizens of Eau Claire like Officer Mike Glennon. If this was so, the problems that the Eau Claire Police Department are experiencing and this web site wouldn’t exist.
Eau Claire Police Watch invites its visitors to download and read the Eau Claire Police depositions in the Eau Claire Police Watch Legal Documents Library concerning the Evan Zimmerman case. Also, do a search on Google with the term “Evan Zimmerman”. Include the quotes in your search. Visit the sites and blogs that concern this case. You will get an idea what the rest of the world thinks about the Eau Claire Police Department, Eau Claire County DA Richard White, and the City of Eau Claire. Not very pretty. Some bloggers have referred to the Eau Claire Police Department as inept or corrupt and Eau Claire County DA Richard White as a criminal.
The citizens of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County need to be very concerned about this. Not only the civil rights issues, but the reputation of the city and the county of Eau Claire is at stake. The Evan Zimmerman case and the Todd Trapp polygraph scandal have sullied the city’s and county’s reputation worldwide. Prospective companies use the Internet to research cities and areas they might want to expand or move to. Who knows what companies have rejected moving or expanding to the Eau Claire area because of these issues?
As reported in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in the article at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=80359, an attorney with the law firm of Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, IL has made the police depositions from the Evan Zimmerman case available to interested members of the public. These depositions have also been made available to Eau Claire Police Watch and are now available for download in the new legal document library at http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com/library.
It is interesting to note that a deposition from Eau Claire police officer Gary Axness is included in this case. Gary Axness killed Derek S. Kratian in an officer involved shooting on September 30, 2006.
Eau Claire Police Watch has added a legal document library to its main site at http://www.eauclairepolicewatch.com/library. This library will include court filings, police reports, and other documents concerning litigation against the Eau Claire Police Department and the City of Eau Claire.
We also wish to annouce that we have obtained a PACER account to access Federal Court documents. Items of interest will be downloaded from PACER and uploaded to the Eau Claire Police Watch legal documents library.
