Tuesday, July 15, 2025
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Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Get Out of Jail Free? Aim a Stolen Gun at a Milwaukee Officer, Get Released

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“The victim, who is an officer, had a gun pointed within inches of his chest. Had she pulled the trigger, the officer could have died,”  – Dale Bormann, Jr.

Robin Ward, the woman accused of aiming a gun at a Milwaukee police officer inside a Pick N Save grocery store, will be allowed to walk out of the jail by just signing a piece of paper.

Despite the fact the officer, who was in uniform, could easily have died, Ward was given a signature bond by Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Dewey B. Martin.  The signature bond and type of charges aren’t sitting well with the Milwaukee police union. The union’s president described a frightening scene, in which the officer talked Ward out of pulling the trigger in a touch-and-go situation inside a store filled with high school workers. Read the criminal complaint here.

Yet when the case came before Commissioner Martin on Dec. 17, he gave the defendant a mere signature bond. A signature bond means a person charged with a crime can bail out of jail without paying a single penny. Her signature gets her out.  She’s basically entering a contract with the state agreeing to comply with bail conditions.

Kent Lovern, spokesman for the DA’s office, told Wisconsin Right Now that the prosecutor “requested cash bail in the amount of $2,500 and the court set a PR bond in the case.” A “PR bond” is a personal recognizance bond, which is the same thing as a signature bond.

That’s also despite the fact she’s been wanted on a bench warrant out of Sheboygan for operating after revoked (revoked due to alcohol/controlled substance/refusal) since July. In 2013, she was convicted of disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifer. She was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and intentionally pointing a firearm at a law enforcement officer. The latter is a felony.

According to the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers, Martin was sworn in as a court commissioner in 2018. He formally worked in the corporation counsel’s office.

Robin ward

According to a previous department news release, police say Ward pointed a stolen gun at the officer’s chest as the officer was trying to break up a fight inside the store at 2355 N. 35th St. The incident occurred at about 8:50 p.m. Saturday, December 12, 2020.

“The victim, who is an officer, had a gun pointed within inches of his chest. Had she pulled the trigger, the officer could have died,” said Dale Bormann, Jr., president of the Milwaukee Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers.

Robin ward

“The district attorney’s office apparently does not see the severity of the issue. She should have been charged with first degree reckless endangering safety without any bail. The officer survived this ordeal by talking down the suspect. Again he talked her down just to survive.”

Added Bormann: “What also confuses me is the fact that she is out of jail and walking the streets. She bailed out with a signature bond. The DA office should be ashamed of themselves for even letting this suspect out of jail. If the suspect commits another crime while out on bail, it is completely on the DA office and the person(s) that allowed her to walk free.”

We reached out to the DA’s office seeking comment. Court records for the initial appearance say, “Defendant Robin Rochelle Ward in court with attorney Robert J Hampton…Carole Manchester appeared for the State of Wisconsin.”

Lovern responded, “’I’m a little surprised that Dale Bormann is unhappy with the charges filed because the charge of Intentionally Pointing a Firearm at a Law Enforcement Officer was the charge that MPD referred to our office to review in the first place. The Assistant District Attorney who reviewed and filed the charges was in communication with MPD during his review of the matter and there was no concern raised about filing different charges. The charges referred and filed were the appropriate ones. Under Wisconsin law, it is generally a misdemeanor for someone to intentionally point a firearm at another person, but that act is elevated to a felony when the firearm is pointed at a law enforcement officer. MPD referred the appropriate charges to the District Attorney’s Office and our office filed the appropriate charges under the circumstances of this case.”

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“In Washington County our budget cycle starts right now, and it’s not due until November. We will propose our budget goals to the County Board in the next couple of months. We will share ‘This is what we’re thinking.’ It gives them months of time to think those through, give us feedback, and [have] that kind of dialogue,” Schoemann explained in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.

Schoemann said that is far better than the approach Evers is taking again this year.

“That’s not how government is supposed to work,” Schoemann said. “It’s not the vision of the governor. It’s not the vision of any one person.”

Evers and the Republican legislative leaders who will write the budget have been involved in on-again, off-again budget talks this month. On Thursday, the governor’s office said those talks were off once again because of gridlock in the Senate.

“Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a post on X.

Schoemann’s criticism of Evers is nothing new. He has long been a critic of the governor and has turned that criticism up since launching his campaign for governor.

But the recent criticism was also aimed at other Republicans who may jump into the 20206 governor’s race later this year.

“Nobody else in this race on the Republican side, being rumored to this point, has the executive leadership of skills and history to be able to show ‘This is how I’ve done it before, and here’s how we’ll do it Madison,’” Schoemann said. “The results in Washington County speak for themselves.”

Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany is also rumored to be looking to get into the Republican race. Before he went to Congress, Tiffany was a Republican lawmaker in Madison.

Businessman and veteran Bill Berrien is also on the short list of likely GOP candidates for 2026.

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