Assault on boy, 15, admitted by ex-Portsmouth officer

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | February 4, 2003 | By AMY JETER

[SWO]

PORTSMOUTH -- A former city police officer pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Daniel D. Wrede was on duty the night in December 2001 when he conducted such a rough search of the teenager that he sprained the boy's wrist and bruised his testicles, special prosecutor T. Marie Walls said in court Monday.

Wrede, 32, was convicted in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of misdemeanor assault and sentenced to 12 months in jail, with all of the time suspended. He also received two years of probation.

As part of a plea agreement, a judge also ordered Wrede to enroll in an anger-management class and to apologize to the boy, his family and to others who witnessed the incident.

Wrede worked as a Portsmouth patrol officer for nearly four years before resigning in April, a police spokesman said.

Since July, he has worked for the Norfolk International Airport's police department, said Wayne Shank, deputy executive director for the Norfolk Airport Authority.

Shank said officials will decide about Wrede's job status after reviewing the conviction.

On Monday, Walls recounted to the court the incident on Dec. 28, 2001:

The boy and four girls went to the Churchland Park area to meet an adult and hit baseballs, do pitching exercises and play paintball.

Wrede and two other officers pulled up about 11 p.m., before the adult had arrived.

The boy was outside his car, and the girls were inside. The girls ranged in age from 12 to 17.

Wrede ordered the boy to get back in his car.

First the teenager asked why, then he got in the back seat with his legs outside.

Wrede forcibly removed the boy from the car and placed him spread-eagle against it, Walls told the court. The boy's face was pressed against the glass, and the car shook with the force of the search.

The boy said, ``You're hurting me. You're hurting me. Stop hurting me,'' the prosecutor said. Wrede ``groped'' the boy between his legs, handcuffed him and walked him away from the car, Walls said.

The girls used cell phones to call family members, some of whom could hear the boy's cries over the phone.

Walls told the court that Wrede would say that the boy had pointed a paintgun at him. But the other officers would not corroborate that, she said.

The incident ended when the adult and parents started arriving, Walls said after the hearing. The teenagers were not arrested or cited in the incident, she said.

A special prosecutor and a judge from another city handled the case because Wrede used to be a Portsmouth police officer and had dealings with the court. Walls is a Suffolk assistant commonwealth's attorney. William R. Moore Jr., a Suffolk judge, presided.

Wrede was dressed Monday in his Norfolk Airport officer uniform. After the sentencing, he turned to deliver his court-ordered apology to the teenagers and adults.

``For the events that occurred that night, I extend an apology to anyone who felt my actions were inappropriate,'' he said.

Walls objected, saying that Wrede must admit that he was wrong.

He turned again to face the gallery.

``My actions were inappropriate,'' he said, ``and I do apologize.''

Reach Amy Jeter at ajeter@pilotonline.com or 446-2793

© 2003 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com

[SWO]

Let me see, sentence longer than one year = "No guns for you", according to federal law. Wonder if he gets to continue working at the Airport or will it be double standard time.

[SWO]

Something for the folks who commented on "LAPD shoots, kills driver believed reaching for gun; no gun found" at
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/834276/posts to chew on.

[softengine]

Not long ago I mentioned an incident in Virginia Beach with an officer out of control. I also mentioned how Virginia was a privvy. It bears repeating here.

More alarming is that it is an issue not confined to Virginia. But then, it isn't confined to only police officers either. We are an (increasingly) angry society. Its everywhere. From the highway to chat room, we have problem.

[Henrietta]

This guy belongs in jail, where if he has someone bruise his testicles, it will be the least of his problems. Any cop who abuses a citizen should stand trial on felony charges, IMO. We need to hold them to a higher standard and make an example of them when they abuse a citizen.

[Henrietta]

ping

[freebilly]

You related to this cop...?

[Tax-chick]

Wrede and two other officers pulled up about 11 p.m., before the adult had arrived. The boy was outside his car, and the girls were inside. The girls ranged in age from 12 to 17.

The usual question: Where are these kids' parents while the kids are in the park at 11:00 p.m.?

[freebilly]

The boy and four girls went to the Churchland Park area to meet an adult and hit baseballs, do pitching exercises and play paintball.

I've used late-night rec facilities more than once in my life....

[Tax-chick]

Yessir, but I assume you were never a 12-year-old girl! If my daughter wanted to go somewhere to "meet an adult," in the company of a teenage boy and three other girls, no way she'd be leaving the house!

Maybe I'm just an overcautious mom, but this doesn't sound like an innocent recreational outing to me.

Not that it excuses the nutcase security guard. What is it about airport security people, anyway?

[SUSSA]

Way back when my daughter was 12 and her brother was 16 she used to go places with him in his car. Some times they even met adults where they were going.

I remember once they went to meet my 19 year old nephew who was home on leave after boot camp.

[freebilly]

I think he was a cop when the incident happened. But the rent-a-cops/security dudes are generally certifiable. I used to work at a winery where a security guard pulled his gun on a visitor to the winery. Seems the visitor was just trying to find the picnic area.

Said security guard was gone that day. I wonder why...?

[dhuffman@awod.com]

So you looked at my 'profile'? Do you respond so all armed citizens? To me, 'conservativism' lies more in actions than words. Again, I suggest that you study more (first language then rhetoric), read more and write less (you would be better recieived on DU).

[freebilly]

No idea what you do for a living and don't care. I fully support the right of all citizens to be armed with as many weapons as they wish.

I agree that conservatism is more in what you do than in what you say. But you come across as an arrogant SOB in your posts, who seems to have the ability to read and think only on the literal level-- a talent I've seen, regrettably, on the worst LEO's and security guards....

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The usual question: Where are these kids' parents while the kids are in the park at 11:00 p.m.?

If the kids were all orphans, would it excuse the cop's behavior? Otherwise, why is your comment germane to this situation?

[Tax-chick]

It seemed to me to be germane ... although you're certainly entitled to disagree :-) ... because incidents like this don't occur in a cultural vacuum. As someone higher up the thread pointed out, there's a system-wide decline in civility and standards of behavior. Out-of-control police are a part of it; parents letting their preteens run around late at night are also part.

What I'm saying, and I've already admitted to being an overcautious mother :-), can be summarized, "If these kids were at home where they belong, this wouldn't have happened."

We all see things in different ways ...

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Well, let's see...my ability to think on only the 'literal level' would not account for my career (from which I am retired), nor my training and not for my education. Capitalizing on our slender commonality, I was educted in California, before the abandonment of standards, in a community much influenced by the Jesuits at the University of Santa Clara. Also at an honors program at San Jose State College (then). My intelligence is +4 s.d. on any number of scales.

Usually I'm called pompous but I understand arrogant too. So what? I don't come here to FR or to some Kalifornistanian for self-esteem or even approval.

[freebilly]

Capitalizing on our slender commonality, I was educted in California

We have even less in common, I received my degrees from universities in Connecticut (I was nearly abducted in California, but never educted)....

[freebilly]

So much for standard deviations....

[freebilly]

+4 s.d....? I've a friend who holds thirty+ patents in the areas of RF & Microwave technologies. I'm not sure they can accurately measure his intelligence. When I'm with him I realize how stupid I really am.

Oh, by the way, my intelligence has been measured at +4 standard deviation....

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Me too.