DARLINGTON - The state has dismissed a criminal case against a Yellowstone park ranger accused of using excessive force while on duty.
A misdemeanor charge of intentionally pointing a firearm at a park-goer last summer was dropped against Bernard Mark Garvey, 53, Argyle, on Monday, July 30 and the case was closed.
The state issued the charge based "in large part" on the opinion of an expert who determined Garvey had used an unreasonable amount of force on a park-goer, said Dana Brueck, communications officer at the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
After the state brought the charge against Garvey, Brueck said the expert changed his opinion.
"The expert revised his opinion and concluded that the use of force by the defendant had been reasonable. In light of this change of opinion, we no longer believed we could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," she said.
According to a Wisconsin Capitol Police detective's investigation, filed with the criminal complaint earlier this year:
Garvey arrested and handcuffed Michael Parrott after struggling with Parrott, who entered Yellowstone State Park on Aug. 18, 2011 without a permit sticker for his motorcycle.
When Parrott slipped the handcuffs to the front of his body and questioned why he was being arrested, Garvey pointed his state-issued gun at him, touching the barrel to the man's helmet chin guard, and threatened, "Give me a reason."
In his incident report, Garvey claimed battery in the confrontation. He wrote that he tried to remove the keys from Parrott's running motorcycle and Parrott grabbed his hand.
Garvey resigned April 4 from his position as a park ranger, according to a representative with the Department of Natural Resources.
A misdemeanor charge of intentionally pointing a firearm at a park-goer last summer was dropped against Bernard Mark Garvey, 53, Argyle, on Monday, July 30 and the case was closed.
The state issued the charge based "in large part" on the opinion of an expert who determined Garvey had used an unreasonable amount of force on a park-goer, said Dana Brueck, communications officer at the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
After the state brought the charge against Garvey, Brueck said the expert changed his opinion.
"The expert revised his opinion and concluded that the use of force by the defendant had been reasonable. In light of this change of opinion, we no longer believed we could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," she said.
According to a Wisconsin Capitol Police detective's investigation, filed with the criminal complaint earlier this year:
Garvey arrested and handcuffed Michael Parrott after struggling with Parrott, who entered Yellowstone State Park on Aug. 18, 2011 without a permit sticker for his motorcycle.
When Parrott slipped the handcuffs to the front of his body and questioned why he was being arrested, Garvey pointed his state-issued gun at him, touching the barrel to the man's helmet chin guard, and threatened, "Give me a reason."
In his incident report, Garvey claimed battery in the confrontation. He wrote that he tried to remove the keys from Parrott's running motorcycle and Parrott grabbed his hand.
Garvey resigned April 4 from his position as a park ranger, according to a representative with the Department of Natural Resources.