May 31, 2014 at 4:57 p.m.
Citing lack of evidence, Bloom denies MHLT injunction in Schettino case
Citing lack of evidence, Bloom denies MHLT injunction in Schettino case
Bloom last week had issued a temporary restraining order against Schettino, 34, after he was arrested May 16 in what authorities called a "road rage" incident on U.S. Highway 51 south of Minocqua.
During the roughly half hour hearing, the school district's attorney, Kevin Pollard, and Schettino, appearing without an attorney, questioned witnesses including Jason Benbenek, a Minocqua police officer, and MHLT administrator Jim Ellis, who filed the petition for temporary restraining order.
Paperwork filed by Ellis claimed harassment of district staff by Schettino.
Schettino faces four criminal charges, one a felony, in connection with the alleged "road rage" incident. He will be back in court June 16 in that case.
Bloom asked Schettino if he intended to contest the injunction brought by Ellis and MHLT,
Schettino said he wasn't sure as his only purpose for being at the school would be to drop off and pick up his children.
The injunction, Bloom explained, would prohibit Schettino from "going on the premises ... and any and all school-related activities. You will be required to stay at least 100 feet from the school property."
"I understand it," Schettino said. "That's why I'm contesting it."
Pollard, the school's attorney, was given the opportunity to ask questions first and Benbenek was the first witness on the stand.
He said the alleged "road rage" incident occurred at around 8 a.m. in the vicinity of Island City Lanes as Schettino, in a Toyota Sequoia SUV, and another vehicle were southbound on Hwy. 51. Schettino is accused of pointing a loaded handgun at the other vehicle.
Benbenek said he responded to the scene and was told the Sequoia, Schettino's vehicle, was at a gas station at the corner of Lee Road and Hwy. 51.
"The caller stayed on the line with [Minocqua] dispatch, watching the vehicle and advised dispatch it proceeded down towards the school," Benbenek said. "I went to that location and tried to locate the vehicle."
At one point near MHLT, Schettino passed him going the other direction, he said.
Benbenek said he turned his squad car around and found Schettino and the other driver outside their vehicles at the intersection of Lee Road and Titus Drive.
"Approximately how far is that from the school?" Pollard asked him. "From the building, about 660 feet," Benbenek said.
The officer said he made contact with Schettino and saw his weapon, a .40 caliber handgun, in the vehicle.
"He acknowledged he had pointed it [the weapon] at the other vehicle, fearing for his safety and his family's safety," Benbenek said.
He said Schettino, though upset over the situation, seemed fairly calm.
"What was his reasoning for pointing the weapon at the other individual?" Pollard asked.
"He claimed the vehicle was changing lanes back and forth, had blacked out windows, and he didn't know if they had an AK - 47 or something," Benbenek said. "He was fearful for his family's safety. So he drew his weapon and pointed it at the other vehicle."
"Do you think that's a legitimate reason to point your weapon at another individual?" Pollard asked Benbenek.
"No," Benbenek replied.
Schettino was then arrested and his vehicle searched.
The weapon, a loaded .40 caliber handgun, was found. .
"Were there any other individuals in the vehicle?" Pollard asked.
"Yes," Benbenek said. "Two children."
The incident took place a couple of miles from the school, Benbenek said.
Pollard asked the officer if Schettino continued to MHLT after the incident and what he was doing there.
"He would have had four children in his vehicle at the time of the incident," Benbenek said. "It would have been to drop off two of his children."
Pollard then asked him if he believed, given the events that had occurred, and Schettino's demeanor at the time, he would have been a threat to anyone at the school.
"Based on how upset he was to point a weapon at someone, it's very possible he could have been a threat at that time," Benbenek said. "Especially with the person he was involved with and he was making contact with him [just off] school property at that time."
"To your knowledge, does Mr. Schettino have a valid permit to carry a handgun?" Pollard asked Benbenek.
"Not in the state of Wisconsin," Benbenek told him.
As for the four minute lockdown MHLT executed following the incident, Benbenek said a detective with the Oneida County Sheriff's Department contacted the school.
Schettino then began his questioning of Benbenek.
Schettino asked Benbenek if there was more than one 911 call as the officer had previously testified it was the wife of the other driver who placed the first 911 call.
"I believe you had called 911 too," Benbenek said. "I'm not sure. You may have made contact with Oneida County."
"I did," Schettino said. "I reported that --" and he was interrupted by Bloom, who reminded him of procedure at the hearing; this was Schettino's opportunity to ask questions of witnesses and not testify and tell his side of the story.
Schettino continued.
"So, when you did get the loaded weapon, the first time you saw it was off of school grounds?" he asked Benbenek.
"When I saw it, it was about 660 feet from the school building," Benbenek said.
"But outside of the school grounds?" Schettino asked again."
"Well, a thousand feet could be considered a zone around a school as far as possession of a firearm," Benbenek said. "But you also admitted to driving onto school property with the firearm."
Schettino then asked if it was ever confirmed a loaded firearm had been found on school grounds.
"Who's to say it wasn't loaded after [the incident]?" Schettino asked Benbenek.
"I don't know when you would have had time to load it after the incident," Benbenek told him.
Ellis on the stand
After Benbenek's testimony, Ellis took the stand to detail the school's concerns about Schettino's alleged harassment of staff.
Pollard asked Ellis if he had been informed about incidents involving Schettino and MHLT staff members before the May 16 incident. Ellis said he had not.
Ellis indicated after the May 16 incident he was made aware of a referral of Schettino to the county's social services by a member of the MHLT staff.
Pollard asked Ellis if the staff member mentioned to him anything about Schettino speaking to her or confronting her and he answered yes.
"What was her response to that confrontation?" Pollard asked.
"He entered her classroom, basically, and kept asking, 'Are we square? Are we square?' and the teacher was not the one who filed the referral," Ellis said.
"Did the teacher seem to be intimidated at all?" Pollard asked.
"She did but she didn't come (forward) until later, until after the May 16 incident," Ellis said.
Pollard asked Ellis if he felt the incident on May 16 posed any threat to the school.
"I certainly did," Ellis said.
"Do you believe anyone carrying a loaded handgun on school grounds could pose a risk to the safety of teachers and the students?" Pollard asked.
"I certainly do," Ellis said.
Pollard then asked Ellis if he had any contact with Schettino after May 16.
"The following Monday, Mr. Schettino dropped his children at school, "Ellis said. "My principal and I asked him to come to my office and talk."
He said Schettino didn't want to talk at first and was upset he had been approached by Ellis and principal Rob Way in front of other parents.
"We talked to him about coming onto school grounds and he said 'I have a right to come onto school grounds,'" Ellis said. "I said 'I need to talk to you about this. I'm very concerned about the safety of my students and staff.' I was also concerned because he had four young children in the car, too."
Ellis said he had been told by Schettino he was having trouble adjusting to life in Wisconsin, having moved to the state a few months before.
"After talking to him, I felt it was in the best interests of the students and staff to seek a restraining order," he said.
Ellis said he was concerned about Schettino's demeanor and said they also talked about his mental state.
"I asked him ... directly asked him if he was going to seek help somewhere," Ellis said. "He told me he was going to seek some help at Camp American Legion."
"Do you believe he poses a potential threat to teachers and students at the school?" Pollard asked.
"I do," Ellis said. "I'm asking that he stay off of school grounds [and away from] any school sponsored activities."
Schettino then asked Ellis whether Ellis had a verbal agreement with Schettino's wife that he would not transport their children to school and that she would.
"I asked her that at the time," Ellis said. "I advised her that you couldn't come onto school grounds, yes."
"Did you have a feeling that would be honored?" Schettino asked.
"She couldn't guarantee that," Ellis said.
Schettino then asked Ellis about the incident after May 16 when Ellis and the principal asked to speak with him.
His questions centered around whether Ellis thought Schettino's reaction to being approached in front of the school might have been because of what Schettino called a long weekend after the incident was "in the paper," a reference to an article about the incident being in The Lakeland Times and Northwoods River News.
"I believe so," Ellis said. "I think part of it was ... how we wanted you to come into the building, you know, and if I had it to do over, I would have done without a public scene but at the time ... I'd do it again because we really needed to talk to you."
Schettino asked Ellis if he felt Schettino was a threat.
"I do after talking to you," Ellis said. "My concern is the overall safety of 600 students and staff members."
Bloom gives his opinion
After asking a couple of clarifying questions of Ellis, Bloom weighed in.
"At this moment, here's where things sit," he said. "We've got a situation here of substance that created genuine, legitimate and justified concern on the part of a number of individuals," he said. "As a result, Mr. Schettino has been charged criminally, including with a felony crime."
Current bond conditions, Bloom said prohibit Schettino from possessing firearms.
"To my knowledge, they don't preclude him from going on school grounds," he said.
Bloom said the purpose of Friday's hearing was for him to determine if there were reasonable grounds to believe harassment had occurred.
He referenced state statute 813.125.
"[It] Includes striking, shoving, kicking or subjecting another to physical contact or attempting or threatening to do the same," he said. "Here we have an encounter that occurred on Hwy. 51, a couple miles from the school, between Mr. Schettino and individuals in another vehicle."
Bloom said there hadn't been any allegation of anything that had occurred between Schettino and any members of the staff at MHLT.
Reading again from the state statute, Bloom said harassment can also be engaging in a course of conduct and repeatedly harass or intimidate a person.
"We've got a single encounter at the school where Mr. Schettino had contact with a staff member ... apparently not a staff member who had made a referral to social services," Bloom said, "(He was) asking 'Are we square?' apparently wanting to get to the bottom of what this issue was. There's no other information than that."
Bloom looked at other sections of the statute pertaining to harassment, such as child abuse, sexual intercourse and stalking, and determined none of that applied.
"Before we proceed further, Mr. Pollard, I certainly understand everyone's concern and I don't begrudge anyone for having the desire to bring this about but as the record sits ... I don't think harassment, for purposes of this statute, has been shown," he said.
Pollard countered and recapped points he felt did apply, but Bloom ruled against Ellis and MHLT. He said there was no evidence of Schettino acting in a threatening or intimidating manner with regard to the encounter mentioned with an MHLT staff member before May 16.
"If they were here, they could tell us how they reacted to their encounters with him," he said. "But that's not in the record."
Bloom said he wasn't downplaying what's happened.
"Mr. Schettino's charged with a felony crime in what happened here," he said. "There's serious, troublesome behavior involved in this situation. My concern is despite that seriousness, that doesn't automatically convert it to harassment."
Bloom said he didn't approve of someone driving around with a loaded gun.
"Do I approve of someone pointing it out the window at someone? No," he said. "Would I be concerned if I was at the school? Yes."
However, those things, he said, don't entitle him to "shoehorn" the situation into a statute he doesn't believe is applicable based on the information provided.
"I'm denying the petition for those reasons," Bloom said.
He noted the reason for his ruling is a technical one.
"It's not based on my opinion that you should be going anywhere near the school," he told Schettino. "The allegations against you are serious and we don't know what will happen with regard to the criminal case."
Schettino said he is seeking counsel through the Veteran Judicial Office.
Brian Jopek may be reached at [email protected].
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