DRUG UNIT OFFICERS REASSIGNED

No One To Be Suspended After Raid On Wrong Muskego House

The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department internal investigation into
a raid on the wrong Muskego home is completed with three Metro Drug
Enforcement officers reassigned but no suspensions, Sheriff William
Kruziki said Wednesday.

The Metro Drug Enforcement supervisors, Sheriff's Capt. Terry
Martorano and Lt. Charles Wood, and Muskego police Officer Eric
Nowicki, were reassigned. Nowicki was the lead investigator on the
botched Valentine's Day raid.

Martorano has returned to the Sheriff's Department as a day-shift
commander, Wood has returned as an evening supervisor, and Nowicki
has returned to police patrol.

Kruziki said during the fact-finding investigation that they found
that mistakes were made during the raid, which was intended to seize
illegal drugs by means of a search warrant.

A combination of circumstances caused the incident, the sheriff said.
"Part of the problem is that you move too fast, you get comfortable
with doing things a certain way," he said.

"There are also issues with training and supervision. I'm not saying
that the training and supervision was bad, it's just a matter of
cutting some corners that shouldn't be cut."

Officers approached the Muskego home from the back about 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 14. They were looking for a home in which a woman lived with a
dog, and saw Sue Wilson - the Muskego woman mistakenly detained
during the raid while standing in her driveway with her dog.

Wilson, 49, was handcuffed and forced to the ground. She said
afterward the "ruthless" officer who handcuffed her and forced her to
the ground was Martorano, and she demanded a public apology from him.

Martorano did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

However, Martorano's wife, Susan, has said that it was not her
husband who handcuffed Wilson but another officer. By the time
Martorano arrived in the driveway, Wilson was already handcuffed, she
said.

Kruziki has apologized to Wilson.

Wilson did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Officers searched Wilson's home. No one was inside, nothing in the
home was damaged or disturbed, and no one was injured, authorities
said.

Officers left the property after learning they had the wrong home.
The address listed on the search warrant was in the same block but
was never searched.

Despite the fact that Lt. Wood did not participate in the raid and
that Martorano has been the squad's supervisor for six years, Kruziki
said Wednesday he felt the Metro Drug Enforcement needed a "clean
slate."

"There was nothing done here that was intentional or reckless,"
Kruziki said. "Both Martorano and Wood are good cops and good
supervisors.

"In general, we need to slow things down and pay more attention to detail."

Replacing Martorano and Wood are Capt. Eric Severson and Lt. Dave
Lafond, who will supervise Metro Drug Enforcement officers.

Severson has no experience in the unit but is an effective,
detail-oriented leader who will take on an administrative role,
Kruziki said. Lafond has experience with street crimes in the unit
but also has experience in larger conspiracy cases, which is a
direction Kruziki wants the unit to go, he said.

Muskego Police Chief John Johnson said he hasn't decided whether to
replace Nowicki on the unit. That would mean losing a patrol officer,
and Johnson said he had to consider whether the department can afford
the lost manpower.