DA: No charges against ATF agent who ran down man fleeing arrest in Milwaukee

On Media Outlook News: A federal agent who intentionally drove into a suspect as he ran from arrest in December won't face criminal charges, the Milwaukee County district attorney has decided.

Bruce J. Young, 40, died not from the collision — caught on another driver's dash cam  — but from a nearly simultaneous self-inflicted gunshot, state investigators concluded.

The bizarre "officer-involved death" resulted in the same kind of outside review as when an officer fatally shoots someone on duty. District Attorney John Chisholm said the agent clearly didn't intend the bump to be fatal, only to knock Young down so he could be disarmed.

"I never expect a family in these circumstance to agree with my decision," he said, "but to me there is no evidence to support a criminal charge."

According to records released Thursday by the state Department of Justice, whose Division of Criminal Investigations reviewed the incident:

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives suspected Young of possessing explosives and planning to take revenge against certain people for slights to his fiancée, who killed herself in front of him earlier in the year.

Additionally, they believed Young was suffering from terminal cancer, was using heroin and had a "nothing to lose" attitude.

So on Dec. 15, agents served a search warrant on a storage unit Young rented in Germantown. Meanwhile, a SWAT unit and other law enforcement officers were staked out around his home near S. 34th St. and W. Branting Lane in Milwaukee. 

Once agents found contraband in the storage unit, they used a ruse to get Young to exit his house.

When he did, he ignored commands and kept walking north on S. 34th St. for about two blocks, waving an apparent handgun near his head. He dropped a duffel bag later found to contain three more guns and possible explosives.

Because of Young's history, and the fact there were children walking nearby, the officers kept talking to Young but did not move in on him or shoot, as he only pointed the gun at himself or in the air.

But as Young was escaping the perimeter, ATF agent  Andrew Elmer, driving an unmarked minivan, intentionally drove into Young from behind to stop him.

Milwaukee County Sheriff's Capt. Daniel Hughes said he saw the undercover ATF van hit Young and heard a gunshot a nearly the same time.

When officers then converged on Young's body in the street, one saw what appeared to be a light bulb on a tether around his neck, something the officer suspected may have been an explosive device. The officer yelled "Device!" and others retreated to await the bomb squad and told nearby residents to shelter in their basements.  The light bulb turned out not to be part of any explosive device.

John Birdsall, a Milwaukee lawyer hired by Young's family, said they are disappointed no one was charged since they feel the agent acted recklessly and caused Young's death by striking him.

"ATF and Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department’s own highly questionable and confrontational strategy for taking Bruce into custody produced a perfect storm of public safety issues — for the police, Bruce and nearby residents," Birdsall said.

"Not only was the strategy fatally flawed, but independent investigation by DCI — the agency charged with the investigation — was largely thwarted," Birdsall said, noting that out of more than 20 officers present that day, only two ATF agents claimed to have seen Young shoot himself and then only made those statements five days later, after consulting with ATF lawyers in Washington.

Birdsall said the only explosives recovered were fireworks.

Elmer has been a special agent since 2004 and part of the bureau's Special Response Team since 2009. He told investigators he decided to hit Young because Young was entering a busy intersection after walking two blocks with a gun, ignoring commands of other officers. He said the area was too populated to safely fire at Young.

Elmer said he estimated he was going about 10 mph when he struck Young who flew forward and to the street. Elmer and a second agent said they saw Young then raise his arm and fire a shot to his head.

A person identified only as a confidential source told investigators he sold heroin to Young, who smoked it to control pain from his terminal cancer. The source told investigators that Young vowed he would never go back to prison.