An investigation is ongoing Thursday afternoon into Friday after a prisoner being transported to the Kenosha County Jail killed himself.
According to a release by Pleasant Prairie Police:
“On July 20th 2023, at about 3:46 PM, Officers of the Pleasant Prairie Police Department arrested an adult male for weapons related offenses. The arrestee was being transported to the Kenosha County Jail for criminal charges by two Pleasant Prairie Police Officers. While driving the squad on Sheridan Road near the entrance of the Kenosha County Jail, officers heard a gun shot from the backseat prisoner portion of the squad.
Preliminary information indicates the arrestee suffered a self-inflicted gun shot wound from a concealed weapon not located in the initial search by officers. Life saving measures were attempted, however the arrestee was pronounced deceased at the scene.
As required by Wisconsin State Statute 175.47, this incident will be investigated by an outside law enforcement agency. The Racine County Sheriff’s Office will conduct this investigation with the full cooperation of our Department as we are committed to full transparency.
Our thoughts are with all law enforcement personnel involved with this incident and the decedent’s family during this tragic time.
We wish to thank the public for their continued support, and we ask for your patience and understanding while this matter is under investigation.”
It seems like PPPD officers missed a gun when they searched and secured the prisoner in the back of the squad.
This is a breaking story.
63 Responses
There are many possibilities. It could also be that a gun was somehow left in the backseat of the squad by an officer or suspect who was placed in the back of the squad on a previous shift. The suspect could have then found it.
The one good thing about this incident is that the suspect did not shoot the officer before shootings himself. That officer had an Angel watching over him or her.
Amen
Any evidence the police obtain, is put in the trunk of the car!! They don’t keep it in the back, where they put the arresting offender!! ??♀️
And yes, the two officers are very fortunate.
Shooting the officer was prevented by (a) an Angel, or (b) the suspect’s hands being tied behind the back.
This is called a negligent search. Whether the gun was left in the squad before, or it was on the dead guy. After every prisoner is taken out of a patrol car, the backseat is searched, every time. Not finding a gun on a frisk, well there are no words for that
Exactly my thoughts. Very suspicious. I wonder why the inmate felt the need to end their life. Very odd, considering their charges.
But a gun should’ve been found during a search. That’s the whole point of the search. Maybe these officers will do a better job next time, knowing the inmate had the opportunity to kill or injure them.
Then there’s the alternative consideration that an officer shot the inmate. A crazy though, but still possible. A negligent search is more likely, though.
Stop looking a gift horse in the mouth.
I am still trying to figure out how this is even possible!!
First of all, how in the world do you miss the suspect having a gun when you are searching him?? Perhaps rookie mistakes??
Second of all, if the person arrested had handcuffs on and behind his back, how is it even possible to get that gun from where they had it hidden, aim it in a place where it would be fatal, let alone pull the trigger??
Seems like there is a lot more to this!! Can’t wait to see how this investigation goes and plays out!!
Could lead to a lawsuit for negligence on the officer by the deceased’s family!!
Most definitely. If he was cuffed, he would’ve been rustling around pulling the gun out, and getting it pointed at himself in a fatal spot. How that wouldn’t have gotten the officers’ attention is beyond me.
They should’ve properly searched him and/or cleared the back seat of their vehicle better in the first place.
I would 100% say it’s fair for the family to win a lawsuit against them for negligence. Had he been properly searched, a medical evaluation could’ve been done revealing his suicidal tendencies, and he could’ve received proper care.
I agree the officers should have noticed something going on in the back seat seeing that they have wide angle lens cameras in the back seat of their squads.
One punctuation mark, e.g., ? or !, does the trick.
Dick.
People are nuts and have put things up their ass a lot, just watch the true stories of the ER!
Good luck shoving a whole gun up there. Not to mention getting it out in the back of a patrol car without the officers noticing.
I don’t buy that story.
Prisoners have secreted guns in that cavity. One did and it accidentally discharged into his balls.
Yep. That’s why you need to do a real good check between the butt cheeks! The prisoners hate it and they file “complaints” against officers, but they hide drugs and all sorts of things between the butt cheeks! Too bad the officers missed the gun…wherever it was located.
Who is the prisoner?
wow! how frightening. I am shocked that the prisoner did not shoot one of the officers!
Yeah! Being arrested for gun charges, yet when they had a gun in the back of a cop car on their way to jail, they chose not to shoot the officers, but themself. Not so much of a danger to anyone after all. Maybe a mental institution would’ve been a better option for recovery, as opposed to jail.
Or is that, as your name says, too liberal for you?
Good riddance
Was the gun left in the car from a previous event? If so, the officers failed to search their squad at the start of shift or after each transport.
Did the officers miss the gun on search prior to arrest? If so not only are they lucky, they will have bad dreams about this the remainder of their life.
If they are taking the bad guy to jail, he should be handcuffed. Kinda hard to get a hidden gun and shoot yourself while cuffed.
Either way, some heads are gonna roll. No pun intended. Might be some vacancies at PPPD in coming weeks!
Bet there will be state wide training on being more thorough! Or less complacent!
Cops don’t get the job because they’re smart. They get it because they’re blindly obedient. The IQ caps for hiring do truly exist!
And that’s why bad situations like this happen. Stupid people get put in charge of things.
I suspect there will be discipline but when you think about it, not much could be worse than them knowing what happened.
I doubt there will be any openings seeing that they have an officer still employed ( Jaden Kleinke) that was found guilty of an owi in Michigan and kept his job. According to the reports and body cam video from that night he was twice the legal limit. Smetana probably made him a drunk driving specialist. I bet defense attorneys have a field day with him on the stand.
He must be on the secret District Attorneys list of officers that they cannot put on the witness stand due to not being credible. I bet he trains new officers.
Well if there were two officers in the squad it’s very possible it was a new officer and a field training officer. Maybe that’s why it’s being kept secret.
Smetana wouldn’t keep it a secret just given the fact that one of them was in training. He has no problem throwing someone under the bus. My guess is that one of the officers is one of Smetana’s little cronies with blanketed protection. He’s trying to buy time to save someone’s ass.
It’s also interesting that Jaden lied to Michigan police. I heard if you lie at PPpd you are fired immediately. I guess that doesn’t apply if you are one of Smetana’s favorites. I wonder how many officers lost their jobs for lying about stupid things and Jaden lies for drunk driving and is still an officer. Corrupt.
This and the guy running off a cliff running from the cops in Franklin is a great example of the trash taking itself out. The only regret is by the DA’s in Kenosha and Milwaukee who didn’t have a chance to drop all charges.
Funniest comment I’ve read all week
You’re disgusting. True scum.
The deceased persons family will have grounds for a lawsuit. Think about it. They call the police and the cops take that person to jail. The family didn’t ask for their loved one to be killed by whatever means. The officers missed the gun on the person or if it was in the back seat of the squad from a previous call or person. They missed it. It is called negligence and I feel so sorry for the persons family. The two officers should be so thankful they were not killed from their own mistake.
Who needs detectives when you’re on the case! Who said his family called? Jumping to conclusions like the rest huh.
Doesn’t matter who called, they’re still supposed to be safe in police custody.
Kenosha County Scanner idiot.
No it didn’t fucken idiot! Awe. Your narrative was wrong? Idiot
My Baby Boy didndunuffin!
Call Ben Crump
(Locate photo of son when he was 14)
Ah, you’re quite the character. Go back up the crap chute you crawled out of.
Ben (d)crump don’t care nor do the Kenosha Blm scum bcuz the dead guy isn’t black.
Facts !
Who said the family was gonna sue? Are you kidding me, the dead guy is gonna have family members coming out of the woodworks to talk about how the dead guy was a prince and was just turning his life around.
The Pleasant Prairie cops are gonna write a big check for this bonehead doing himself in. And, yeah, they were negligent. Most likely because of a pat-down gone wrong, although I suppose the last guy in the car could have dropped it, although the car is supposed to be searched once you take somebody out. Either way, somebody dropped the ball and that means somebody else is gonna win the ghetto lottery.
Man, you sure are a real piece of work, aren’t ya bud? Do us all a favor and keep your faux news brainwashed opinions to yourself. Nobody wants to hear you spew your hate while you foam at the mouth.
Facts are often misconstrued as hate by the ignorant. Just saying.
* the cops are gonna write a big check…FACT
* the cops were negligent…FACT
* the family will sue…FACT
I suppose you opposed my use of the word Prince. Or was it ghetto? Don’t be racist as that’s just appalling.
Do you mean “the last guy in the car” being a prisoner? Well, then there are 2 incidents when the search wasn’t performed correctly! Whether its the car search or the person search.
In reality John Steinbrink Jr probably stole more money from the tax payers than this family will receive
I hope whoever did the search is fired. Looking forward to a follow-up on this one Kevin!
Why isn’t Smetana talking on this. Just Capt M on the stupid PD Facebook page. Smetana needs to go as this happened under his watch. Perhaps the guy in charge of training these officers needs to go as he is incompetent as well. Clean up house. Are these officers on administrative leave? No answers from their leader. Nothing. No answers from the Village administrator. No answers period. This is unacceptable. As a taxpayer I want to know what happened.
I’m a taxpayer and I want to know what happened, too. But forensic investigations take time and there are some good reasons to avoid diarrhea of the mouth. Agree that there should be transparency but this is a little over a day after the event.
Still waiting !
I agree, what’s taking so long for the facts to come out. Should be pretty cut and dry with body cam as well as back seat squad cam. I’m also curious as to how long these two officers have been on the dept. Why no information Smetana? And by the way captain Marik is an idiot as well!
The deceased was identified by his family. He has a considerable record and, according to the family, mental health issues.
So because the nut job wacks himself in a squad car,it’s someone else’s fault? The loser family always shows up when it’s time to get paid,never the week before.
Cum stain is it? The police are negligent! I back the badge but this was terrible police work. I’m sure if you had a loved one that died in police custody you would fell differently. And by the way a wack job would have also shot the two officers.
Are the two officers on desk duty or are they back on the road?
Should be fired. Considering they arrested someone and didn’t find all the weapons on him. Lucky they aren’t the ones dead.
All arrests should be an immediate strip search/body scan on the scene of the arrest. Maybe each department should purchase a mobile van/rv with a body scanner…..
Good ol Kenosha (and Pleasant Prairie) police! A bunch of incompetent morons! So they were either too stupid and 1) left a loaded weapon in the back of their squad card 2) didn’t properly search the guy they arrested and had in handcuffs or 3) killed him and are trying to cover it up. Sounds about right.
Yep sounds right incompetent and crooked.
None of this would have happened if the already convicted felon didn’t illegally have a gun and shoot himself…… This whole mess lies at his feet, nobody elses.
Felons will always have access to guns no matter how strict the laws are. Police are trained for these situations and when they mess up they should be held accountable. One or more of these officers messed up when searching him and it could have cost them their lives. That falls on the police.
I’m a local business owner and I actually heard this call over my scanner that day. One of the PPPD officers called out that he was medically cleared and they were transporting him to jail. They requested jail staff meet them in the sally port because he was combative. If he was at the hospital being medically cleared, was he brought there by the police? What was he medically cleared of ? This would mean he had the gun the entire time he was at the hospital. This situation could and should have been prevented. I’m glad nobody else was injured sounds like it could have been much worse. I’m curious as to how long it will take for PPPD to release video and answer everyone’s questions. Seems like this one is being kept under wraps.
Still waiting Smetana for these questions to be answered.
Still waiting !!!!!!
It has been almost a month, what is taking so long for the officers to be named? Video to be released? What if any disciplinary action?