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| 2/27/2007 8:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | DNR: Ranger lied to police about trail-spiking incident
Notes indicate false statement relayed to sheriff’s department for possible probe
A Department of Natural Resources ranger in charge of the Bearskin Trail lied to a Minocqua police detective after spiking the trail with nails last year, recently released DNR records show.
The Lakeland Times received the file last week after making an open records request in February 2006. The DNR released the records after The Times prevailed in an open records lawsuit for warden Tom Kroeplin's disciplinary file.
A Minocqua Police Department squad car ran over the spiked board, puncturing three tires. The DNR suspended ranger John Brandenburg for three days without pay.
After the incident, Brandenburg told police he had been given permission to place the board on the trail by Tim Miller, the DNR's northern region's parks and recreation program manager.
That wasn't true, Brandenburg later admitted, according to a Dec. 7, 2005 disciplinary letter to Brandenburg from William H. Smith, then the DNR's deputy secretary.
In addition, notes from Brandenburg's personnel file indicate an agency official contacted the Oneida County Sheriff's Department to inform its officers of Brandenburg's actions for possible investigation.
The accuracy of those notes could not be confirmed by press time. No charges were ever filed.
A prickly situation
According to police reports, Minocqua police officer Jason Benbenek was patrolling the trail and ran over a board approximately six feet long "with numerous nails in it" at approximately 12:15 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 18, 2005.
In a subsequent police investigation, Brandenburg told officers the agency had an ongoing problem with vehicles traveling the trail at night. He said he had placed the boards at about 10:45 p.m.
"John started the conversation as stating he believes he owes us some tires," Minocqua detective Todd Hanson wrote in his Aug. 18, 2005 report.
Brandenburg also told officers he had checked with his supervisor, Timothy Miller, about "doing something on the trail, like stop sticks" and was told the DNR had "used something like this on trails before" in another region.
Brandenburg told police officers the state would pay for the tires.
In a report written on Aug. 20, 2005, Hanson recounted a conversation with the area supervisor of DNR law enforcement, Mike Bartz, that seemingly contradicted Brandenburg's earlier assertion that his supervisor had approved the placing of the spiked board.
"When asked if Tim Miller had maybe authorized this, Bartz did not think so," Hanson wrote. "Bartz stated that the immediate supervisor for Brandenburg would be Dawn Bishop, from Merrill. Bartz stated that Brandenburg falls under the Council Grounds State Parks."
Hanson told Bartz he would recommend that the matter be reviewed by the Oneida County district attorney for possible charges.
A subsequent DNR investigation confirmed that Miller never gave Brandenburg any authorization to use a spike strip, and the ranger acknowledged that fact in an interview with Julie Sauer of the DNR's northern region.
A broken chain of command
In that interview, Brandenburg told Sauer he was having problems with motorized vehicles damaging the trail at night and that he placed two spike strips on the trail at about 11:20 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2005, Sauer wrote in an Oct. 10, 2005 memo to DNR attorney Dan Graff.
"Mr. Brandenburg indicated that he did not talk to anyone in the supervisory chain about the problem or the spike strips," Sauer wrote. "He only mentioned it to a couple of other staff, but no one advised him to use the strips."
Brandenburg told Sauer one forester had recalled using strips years ago and Brandenburg thought it was an acceptable police tactic. He then told Sauer, according to the memo, that he now realized "it was a faulty thought process."
He also told Sauer he did not check to see if there were any agency policies regarding the use of spike strips. Sauer then asked Brandenburg why he told police that Tim Miller had approved of the strips' use. Brandenburg first told Sauer he did not know what she was talking about, she related in her memo to Graff.
"I reviewed the conversation he had with detective Hanson," Sauer wrote. "He does not remember saying that he received approval, but figures that the reason he did was because at the heat of the moment he was trying to 'cover his butt.'"
In a separate memo to Graff that same day, Sauer indicates she also interviewed Northern Highland recreation team leader Bob Schepper and Cal Doering, a Northern Highlands forester.
Expensive tactics
Schepper told Sauer, she wrote, that Brandenburg said he was frustrated by not catching the motorized vehicles and had said something about spiking the road.
"Bob thought that John was joking," Sauer wrote. "Bob responded with something like 'do whatever you can afford.'"
Doering also told Sauer he had talked with Brandenburg about spike strips, Sauer wrote, and that he had shared a story about how they had been used successfully in the 1970s - without supervisory approval.
"Cal feels bad about sharing this story," Sauer wrote, "he believes that maybe John took this as encouragement to use the strips."
Sauer's investigation led to a predisciplinary hearing into two specific potential infractions: the placement of the strips, and Brandenburg's statements to Minocqua police that Miller had approved the use of the strips.
"This is not a criminal investigation, but since work rules forbid illegal conduct, inquiry into illegal acts may be pursued in order to determine whether violations of the department's work rules or code of ethics may have occurred," Graff advised Brandenburg in a Nov. 4, 2005 notice of the pre-disciplinary hearing.
On Dec. 7, 2005, the department issued its letter of discipline, suspending Brandenburg after finding that he had violated three work rules - refraining from any acts or violations that would violate the public trust and reflect discredit on the employee or the DNR, unauthorized use, abuse or misuse of DNR facilities, equipment, supplies or property, and making false statements concerning the department and its employees.
Pleading guilty
Brandenburg admitted the allegations against him were true at the hearing, Smith wrote.
"The department has decided to assess this level of discipline because of the strong potential risk to public safety involved in setting the spike strips," he wrote to Brandenburg. "Actual damage was sustained by a Minocqua police car, and even worse damage or injury might have resulted to a bicycle rider or pedestrian."
Just as important was the lie to police, Smith asserted.
"Equally significant is your false statement to the Minocqua police that Mr. Miller had acquiesced to your placement of the spike strip, which created a poor image of the department in the Minocqua area and compromised your credibility as a credentialed LE park ranger with a law enforcement agency," he wrote.
While Hanson had indicated to Bartz that he would turn the matter over to the Oneida County district attorney for possible prosecution, Bartz himself apparently contacted the Oneida County Sheriff's Department, according to handwritten - but unsigned and undated - notes in Brandenburg's personnel file.
Those notes, written by one of Brandenburg's supervisors, summarize a phone conversation between Brandenburg and the supervisor, who directed him to do no law enforcement "for the time being."
After that conversation, the notes indicate the supervisor telephoned Bartz.
"Mike assisted by contacting the Oneida County Sheriff's Department," the notes read. "They will decide whether to investigate this matter w/J. Brandenburg & Minocqua PD."
Both Bartz and Oneida County Sheriff Jeff Hoffman were out of town Friday and neither could be reached by press time to confirm whether Bartz cantacted the department.
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