A cop with credibility issue causes 40 cases to get dismissed
A city in Wisconsin has a problem with a cop, as it is proven he may not tell the truth all the time. Superior, WI police officer Jarid Rankila arrested a woman, which led to an investigation by his local DA. During the investigation, they realized there were too many lies to trust Rankila’s testimony on this case. It would also mean they would not be able to trust his testimony for other cases, which means 40 cases were dismissed.
People think this makes cops look bad, which it does. People have to be able to know that the people that committed crimes against them will go to jail. Not when Rankila is involved, as he is unable to be trusted by a District Attorney who made sure of the situation before they took someone to court. Even a simple crime being investigated shows that this DA doesn’t want to send innocent people to jail. Could it be that there is starting to be people who want real justice, not scandal?
The Arrest
Here, via the Wisconsin Examiner on Yahoo, is what happened in the arrest.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/douglas-county-da-dismisses-40-114522718.html
In the incident report Rankila prepared, he noted that he was called at 9:10 p.m., April 13 to the Superior Curling Club, 4700 Tower Avenue, (local media refers to this area as the Superior Fairgrounds) where a woman was “flipping over tables, yelling at people and causing a disturbance.”
The woman, Erica Peters, 40, of Appleton, was there to watch her son compete in a cage fight.
Rankila recorded that he and two other officers arrived on the scene and that Peters appeared intoxicated and was becoming aggressive with one of the other officers. Rankila attempted to handcuff Peters but, he reported, she resisted until, with the assistance of the other two officers, he was able to handcuff her and attempt to secure her in squad car 32.
“I walked to squad car 32 to open the rear driver’s side door for Officer’s Olson and Finger. When I did this Erica turned toward the rear driver’s side door of the squad car and kicked it shut. My right hand was in between the door and the b-piller of the squad car at the time Erica kicked it out.
“When Erica kicked the door shut on my right hand, I felt a rush of pain in my right hand…”
In his report, Rankila stated that he stopped at the Essentia Health Emergency Room in Superior to “speak with a ER doctor about the incident and weather (sic) I should have my had (sic) examined. At that time, which was approximately 30-40 minutes after my hand was slammed in the door, I was no longer feeling pain in my right hand. My hand was tighter than normal and I noticed it was slightly swollen.
“The ER doctor listened to my recollection of the incident. He advised that I be mindful of any pain or range of motion issues with my affected hand in the coming days and weeks. The doctor stated it would not be necessary to check me into the ER for an official check-up as he would end up telling me the exact same thing and then release me.”
Peters was booked on three charges: disorderly conduct, resisting or obstructing an officer and battery to a law enforcement officer. Only the battery charge is a felony. Peters was ultimately charged only for disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer. She pled no contest to the disorderly conduct charge and the other charge was dismissed.
Investigator Findings
Here, via a report that Fox 21 Duluth got from the DA, is what the investigation found.
https://www.fox21online.com/content/uploads/2024/11/u/q/DISTRICT-ATTY-MEMO.pdf
But upon review of officer Rankila’s body camera footage, Fruehauf sent a six-page report to Superior Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt that detailed multiple inconsistencies with officer Rankila’s police reports.
The inconsistences by Fruehauf include Rankila being heard on video saying he “almost” got this hand stuck in the door, Rankila seen using his right hand during the on-scene investigation, and video showing no “visible injury, such as bleeding, broken skin or discoloration.”
“I mean she smashed my hand in the door. I feel like I should go Battery to a Law Enforcement Officer,” Rankila is heard on body camera video. “I was holding the door open and she kicked it shut so hard that my hand went ‘boom!’” Rankila described while using his right hand to re-enact how he said the door swung shut on his hand (without closing the door on it).
As for the visit to the hospital, GPS data of Rankila’s squad car shows he was at Essential Hospital for 2 minutes, 21 seconds — from the time of arriving in the parking lot, to exiting and returning to the squad car to leave, according to Fruehauf.
Fruehauf documented to the Chief Winterscheidt that he was “bothered by the lack of any photograph of the supposed injury.”
Fruehauf went on to say, “to make an arrest for a felony battery to law enforcement … and not take any photo of the injury, is inexplicable to me.”
The female suspect in this case pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The other charge of resisting or obstructing an officer was dropped.
Meanwhile, it is a felony for a law enforcement officer to intentionally falsify police reports. However, after an outside investigation by the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office and after Fruehauf’s own review of the evidence, he said he is not able to file charges against Rankila at this time.
Another cop found lying, go figure.
All my links: https://linktr.ee/RedneckThinker