The Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) - An off-duty police detective armed with a police-issued handgun while doing contract work has pleaded guilty to drunken driving and misdemeanor possession of a gun while intoxicated.
Charles Knapp, a 24-year veteran of the Wausau Police Department, was arrested last July and had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit for driving, authorities said.
After entering the guilty pleas Tuesday, Knapp, 47, was fined $700 and had his drivers license revoked for six months.
Under a deferred sentencing agreement on the gun charge, Knapp will have the conviction reduced to disorderly conduct if he successfully goes one year without drinking alcohol and committing other crimes, according to Langlade County District Attorney Ralph Uttke, the special prosecutor in the case.
If he successfully completes those conditions, he would be fined $100, Uttke said. The maximum punishment for the gun charge is nine months in jail or a $10,000 fine.
Marathon County Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Wagers arrested Knapp on July 25 after Knapp behaved oddly when calling in a report on a police radio from Stratford, according to police reports.
Sheriff’s officers asked him to meet them at the Stratford Police Department and arrested him after they noticed he appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test, police reports said.
At the time, Knapp was armed with a work-issued handgun, had used official police communications equipment and had his badge pinned to his belt while doing contract work for the Department of Corrections, police said.
Knapp was placed on paid leave after the arrest and returned to work in August.
Knapp was not fired because he took responsibility for his actions and had a 24-year record with the department of being a good officer, police administrators said.