An Illinois man was sentenced today to 57-1/2 years in the Wisconsin Prison System today followed by 29 years of extended supervision. It’s a prison sentence that will likely mean that Allan M. Brown will spend the rest of his life behind bars on this case alone. He is still facing, however, two murder charges in Illinois.

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Brown was charged and found guilty of nine felonies relating to an October 21, 2021 incident in which he allegedly fled Chicago, IL after killing two people. The vehicle that he carjacked from one of his murder victims was remotely disabled by Onstar near Benson Corners gas station.

Four deputies arrived to take Brown into custody and he shot at them, missing, and shot K9 Riggs in the head. K9 Riggs suffered severe pain, but made a full recovery and has had an active a fruitful career ever since.

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Deputy Tifft, the only victim to speak today, made a plea to Judge for the maximum sentence allowed under the law. In Tifft’s remarks, however, he didn’t spend much time talking about the risk to his safety when Brown opened fire at him and two other deputies. He was more interested in talking about his partner, K9 Riggs.

“In the eyes of the law, which I don’t agree with, police K9s are considered property. It doesn’t sit well with me, and unless you’ve ever been a K9 handler, it’s hard to understand the bond between a K9 handler and his dog. K9 Riggs is a part of my family,” said Deputy Tifft. Deputy Tifft would later tell KCE that he is encouraging legislators to change the law, and have the criminal justice system treat police dogs like their human counterparts.

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“I’ve been in discussions with local legislators about changing this law and I’m optimistic that it can be done,” said Sheriff David. W. Zoerner in an interview after the sentencing. “K9 Riggs will be retiring and we would like to ask the public for help with raising funds to train his replacement when that time comes.” Folks can donate to the new K9 fund by making checks payable to “Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department” and the funds will be used only for the training and implementation of the new K9. KCE sponsor, Attorney Xavier Solis has pledged to match the first $50 donation for the new K9, and KCE sponsor Merlin Complete Auto Care has also agreed to match another $50 donation. Please leave a comment in this article with your pledge and we will have the Sheriff’s office reach out to you directly.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers also asked Judge Milisauskas for the maximum sentence permitted under the law. “As Deputy Tifft best said, the defendant made the mistake of coming to Kenosha County, where the truly brave and honorable deputies of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department put themselves in harm’s way to apprehend this truly dangerous man. Knowing full well the breadth of this man’s depravity and the lengths he was willing to go, they put their own lives in danger to protect the citizens of Kenosha County, and the citizens of anywhere else this man would travel,” said Smathers Tuesday morning.

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“[K9 Riggs] did save the people’s lives that day by taking a bullet to the head. And there was no reason for that. I don’t know where the defendant thought he was gonna go to get away. There was no way he was going to escape. So what does he do? He shoots [K9 Riggs] in the head,” said long-time Judge Anthony Milisauskas. Milisauskas then went on to read Brown’s extensive violent criminal history. “There is a need to protect the public for [these] charges, and punish the defendant. Anytime somebody shoots at a human being, I think the court system has an obligation to protect the victim and the public... The other aggravating factor here, is that the crimes were committed against Deputy Sheriffs and police officers. They are here to protect us, and they don’t need to go to a crime scene and get in a position where they will not go home…Their pay isn’t the greatest and they take so much abuse.”

With that, the judge handed down the maximum sentence on all counts. The only break the defendant received was one concurrent charge of 18 months.

While Judge Milisauskas was handing down the stiff sentence, K9 Riggs, who was parked just outside of the courtroom, could be heard barking by all of the occupants of the room. After court, ADA Smathers got to visit with K9 Riggs.

“I’m very happy with the sentence. Judge Milisauskas is a wise jurist and obviously has the back of law enforcement and the community at large. It means a lot to my deputies,” said Sheriff Zoerner after court.