“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.

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.

“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.”