Shorewood Track Coach Handcuffed at Gunpoint After 'Big Misunderstanding' by Police

When track coach Dominic Newman saw a squad car following him on North Lake Drive early Monday morning as he was dropping off some people after the state track meet, he thought nothing of it.

Little did he know, however, that squads from Whitefish Bay, Glendale and Shorewood were setting up roadblocks on the street because they thought Newman was driving a stolen car.

Once Newman reached the 120 block of East Sliver Spring Drive, in front of Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, a barrage of police cars cut him off and officers jumped out with their guns drawn. They ordered him out of the car, handcuffed him and told him he was being arrested for grand theft auto, he said.

Newman said he was scared when the incident happened. Now he's just angry.

“I was pretty upset; now I'm pissed,” he said in an exclusive interview with Patch. “It was excessive."

“Was it really necessary to draw four, five, six guns on me?" asked Newman, who has been a physical education teacher at Shorewood's Lake Bluff Elementary School for 12 years.

Shorewood police acknowledge that what happened was a "big misunderstanding," but officials said grand theft auto is a felony and that officers were just doing their job.

Resident became suspicious

According to Newman and Shorewood police:

The drama started at about 1:30 a.m., when an anonymous Shorewood resident called 911 to report hearing a car window break and a car alarm go off, then seeing a silver Volkswagen Golf Hatchback speeding north on North Lake Drive with the alarm sounding.

That call started Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and Glendale police on their search for a stolen car.

The Volkswagen was Newman's wife's car, and he said the car alarm had been acting up and every time the door opened, the alarm would sound for a couple of seconds. There was no broken window or shattered glass.

After a long drive back from last weekend’s WIAA State Track Meet in La Crosse, Newman said he was making trips around Shorewood dropping off people who rode back with him. He was at the intersection of North Lake Drive and East Marion Street when police say they received information on a possible auto theft, started pursuing the vehicle and ultimately confronted Newman.

Deputy Chief: Officers did the right thing

Shorewood Deputy Police Chief Terry Zimmerman said deploying multiple officers and having them draw their weapons is a standard procedure in pursuing a car believed to be stolen.

Police departments in Shorewood and Whitefish Bay have been dealing with a rash of vehicle break-ins in the last month and Zimmerman said they took this report very seriously.

“This is what is happening in the area,” Zimmerman said, referring to the increase in break-ins recently.

Whitefish Bay police did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment on the incident.

Newman said a more reasonable action for police would have been to have two officers pull him over, but Zimmerman said it’s a issue of officer safety.

“Maybe six, eight squads weren’t enough," Zimmerman said. "Maybe we needed 10. What you have to understand is, police are approaching the situation with the knowledge that the car was stolen.”

Was race a factor in response?

Newman, who is African-American, noted that Shorewood police have a reputation for racial profiling. While he's not sure this incident was racially motivated because police didn't know the race of the driver they were pursuing, some of his friends do think race was a factor. And, Newman said, his friends are discussing a protest at the .

However, Shorewood police say race absolutely played no role in how officers responded to the incident. Zimmerman said he and other officers rarely know the race of individuals before they're pulled over or confronted, and that the department does not engage in racial profiling.

Newman admitted police are put in a hard place when trying to perform their duties, but nevertheless, he says police were wrong in how they handled the matter on Monday.

"What happened to just coming up and asking?" he wondered. “It a pretty scary experience for just a simple car alarm going off for a few seconds.”

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly said Newman's car alarm had gone off for several minutes. It actually had gone off for several seconds. (Story updated at 8:45 a.m. June 8.)