Charges of misconduct by a Marquette police officer in connection with an OWI investigation

MILWAUKEE – A Marquette University police officer is accused of trying to “botch” an OWI crash investigation that began in 2023.

OWI crash

The backstory:

Prosecutors said 29-year-old Isaiah Espino committed misconduct in public office and used his position as a police officer to “gain a dishonest advantage” to another person.

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A criminal complaint says Espino responded to an accident near 15th and State in April 2023. He arrested the driver because he was driving under the influence of alcohol. During the subsequent trial, the driver’s defense brought up text messages Espino had sent her.

In those messages, court records say Espino said he would try to “screw up the case” so the driver could be dismissed from charges. During the trial, Espino admitted sending the text messages. He also said that he had not written anything wrong in his reports; he simply “didn’t write the best report” he could have.

“Forgive me, but I’m not sure what your situation is now, but I wanted to warn you. “I tried to mess up the paperwork so nothing would come of it, and some high up above me forced me to fix it.” One of those messages was read, according to the complaint.

A Marquette police sergeant told investigators he had to return numerous OWI and PAC tickets from Espino, according to prosecutors. He said all the problems were typographical errors that were later corrected. He said Espino would resubmit the tickets, fixing only one or two of the problems each time.

Investigators spoke with the driver. According to court documents, she was “very emotional” and thought Espino “felt sorry for her.” She said Espino never mentioned during her arrest that he was trying to help her out of a charge.

In custody

What they say:

When investigators asked Espino what he did to “botch” the investigation, prosecutors said he told them none of the papers were messed up because they were ultimately accepted. He claimed that he had not made any intentional errors and that the number of returns was average for him.

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Prosecutors said Espino later admitted that he “left things out of the report” to help the driver “a little” with her case – including details about sobriety tests. He said he sent text messages to the driver before her trial to “calm herself down.”

What’s next:

Espino is accused of serious misconduct. Court records show his first appearance is scheduled for February.

Police reaction

What they say:

“Officer Espino began his tenure with MUPD on May 18, 2020. MUPD sets high standards for its officers in accordance with the Catholic, Jesuit values ​​of Marquette University. The conduct he was accused of did not meet these standards and was therefore placed on administrative leave as a result of an internal investigation.”