By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT
“You know who I am.”
That’s what Mitchell Butterbrodt, an off-duty state trooper at the time, said to the on-duty police officer who pulled him over in 2018, according to the arresting officer’s report. It was Butterbrodt’s second DUI offense since 2010, court documents show.
Beaver Dam Officer Mike Kuehn wrote in his report that he pulled Butterbrodt’s truck over at about 11 p.m. on Saturday, October 27, 2018 due to a dead passenger-side headlight. Kuehn noted that he smelled alcohol on Butterbrodt’s breath, and that his eyes appeared “bloodshot and glossy.”
“Yeah, what’s your point?” Kuehn reported saying after the off-duty trooper said he knew him. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have to verify your stuff.”
“No, no, you don’t,” Butterbrodt, 29 at the time, responded, according to Kuehn’s report. “I’m telling you where I’m coming from.”
At one point during the stop, Kuehn went back to his patrol vehicle. When he returned to Butterbrodt’s truck, Kuehn wrote that he saw Butterbrodt’s state trooper badge now on the center console.
After struggling with a field sobriety test, according to the report, Butterbrodt blew a .135% blood alcohol level on a breath test, well over the legal limit of .08%. That’s when the Beaver Dam police officer handcuffed Butterbrodt.
“Did you see what’s in there?” Butterbrodt then asked Kuehn.
“I did and it has no relevance to the traffic stop,” Kuehn responded, according to the report.
Butterbrodt eventually pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor offense of Operating with Prohibited Alcohol Concentration (2nd) in exchange for the dropping of two other charges, including Operating a Firearm While Intoxicated, according to court documents. He had a handgun in his truck.
Butterbrodt served five days in jail, was fined $350 and had his driver’s license revoked for 12 months, according to court documents.
He resigned from his position as a state trooper in November of 2018, shortly after the arrest, according to the state patrol’s human resources department.
Law enforcement can report officers who leave employment under negative circumstances to a Wisconsin Department of Justice Database, but apparently the Wisconsin State Patrol did not do so with Butterbrodt. He is not on that list of flagged officers obtained by The Badger Project in a public records request.
After his resignation, Butterbrodt returned to a previous job as a correctional officer at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in February 2019 before moving to the Department of Health Services in 2021, said Kevin Hoffman, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
The Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department hired him as a deputy and jail officer in August 2021. Butterbrodt, now 34 has since moved to the position of patrol deputy, Sheriff Timothy Wilz wrote in an email to The Badger Project.
The department completed an “extensive background” and was aware of his two DUI convictions before hiring Butterbrodt, the sheriff said.
“Deputy Butterbrodt works at a high level of professionalism, (is a) great communicator and has tremendous people skills,” Wilz wrote. “Deputy Butterbrodt is an asset to our Sheriff’s Office.”
Butterbrodt worked as a trooper for the Wisconsin State Patrol between 2016 and 2018. He worked a first stint as a correctional officer at the state Department of Corrections from 2013 to 2016.
He committed his first DUI offense in 2010 in Pierce County in western Wisconsin, according to court documents. Wisconsin is the only state in the country in which first-offense drunk driving charges are not considered a criminal offense.
The state is currently experiencing what some sheriffs call a “crisis” in filling law enforcement jobs, especially the less desirable and lower-paid correctional officer positions. In July, an investigation by The Badger Project found that the total number of county jail officers in Wisconsin had dropped to its lowest level since the state Department of Justice started keeping track in 2008. Some experts worry those conditions are forcing sheriffs to lower standards to fill positions.
Wilz said that while the number of applicants is much lower than five years ago, his office has not.
“Waupaca County however has had good success in recruitment of experienced officers from other agencies,” he wrote. “We continue to hire officers who have a high standard of integrity, professionalism and commitment to both our community and the sheriff’s office.”
The starting wage for a sheriff’s deputy in Waupaca County is $27.69 per hour.
The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.
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This article first appeared on The Badger Project and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
