By Police1 Staff
OREGON, Wis. — A volunteer firefighter has filed a $50,000 claim after alleging an officer overreacted when he drew his gun during a traffic stop.
Oregon officer Ted Gilbertson was responding to reports of a motorist possibly impersonating a police officer in June when he pulled over Brooklyn volunteer firefighter Dan Dean.
Dean had been paged to respond to a fire and drove to his firehouse in his personal vehicle.
Gilbertson pursued Dean’s vehicle before he stopped at the station’s parking lot.
The police department’s internal investigation cleared Gilbertson of any wrongdoing and accused Dean of recklessly responding to a non-emergency. He was cited for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, according to Wisconsin State Journal.
Dean claimed he didn’t pull over because he thought the patrol car was responding to the same incident. “I thought, ‘We’re heading to the same call,” he said. He has filed the $50,000 claim against the village of Oregon.
Dash cam video shows Dean getting out of his car, then ordered by Gilbertson to get back inside. Gilbertson then approached the car with both hands on his pistol.
Lt. Karey Clark, who conducted the police department’s internal investigation, said in a report, “Our officer, acting in good faith, thought he was involved in a high-speed chase. “At the end of such a pursuit, an officer is to treat the situation as a high-risk traffic stop and use an appropriate level of force until the situation is deemed under control, which is what our officer did.”
According to the Wicsonisn State Journal, the call Dean was responding to was a refrigerator fire.