WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- Two Waukesha County firefighters charged with hate crimes for allegedly using racial slurs and threats against a black fisherman from Milwaukee have taken leaves of absence.
North Lake Fire Chief Terry Stapleton and volunteer firefighter Mark Weber requested the leaves Saturday and they were immediately granted.
Fire department board president George Miller said the two did what they thought was best for the department.
Mark Bratton, 41, said the men used a racial slur, one pointed a handgun at him and the other threatened him with a German shepherd as they told him to leave a roadside pond.
Stapleton, 65, and Weber, 41, were charged Friday in Waukesha County with hate crimes. Stapleton faces two misdemeanors, disorderly conduct and obstructing justice, and could get a year in prison if convicted.
Weber is charged with disorderly conduct and reckless use of a firearm, and faces up to two years in prison.
The incident developed about 7 p.m. Tuesday when Weber supposedly was forced to stop his truck as Bratton slowly crossed the rural highway to fish in the Monches Mill Pond, part of the Oconomowoc River.
The criminal complaint said that Weber, who had been drinking with his wife, Cindy, at a nearby restaurant, exchanged words with Bratton. Weber would later claim that Bratton spit on him.
Weber then went to the fire station where he met Stapleton, who also had been drinking, the complaint said, and the two men went to the pond, where witnesses said they saw Weber threaten Bratton with a handgun and Stapleton use his German shepherd to chase the fisherman.
Stapleton initially told investigators he just drove up on Bratton and Weber while riding with his dog, Major.
Both men insist Bratton shouted racial slurs and provoked Weber by spitting, but Bratton denies those claims. Stapleton said he became involved to prevent Weber from injuring Bratton.
Bratton called 911 for help during the incident. He said last week that he feels he was saved from further harm because a woman happened to walk by with her dog and witnessed what was happening.
