Greenfield police chief charged with new crimes; what we know

Police chief charged with new crimes

Greenfield’s police chief, already charged with felony misconduct in office, caught new charges in the case Wednesday.

MILWAUKEE - Greenfield’s police chief, already charged with felony misconduct in office, caught new charges in the case Wednesday.

New charges

In court:

Prosecutors charged 58-year-old Jay Johnson with two new felony charges of destroying data (as a party to a crime) and felony bail jumping, as well as misdemeanor resisting or obstructing an officer.

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In court Wednesday, prosecutors alleged that Johnson – or some other actor – intentionally and remotely wiped his cellphone that was confiscated from him at his initial appearance on Nov. 10.

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"The remote resetting of the phone happened through Mr. Johnson’s Google account, which would have required his username and his password, and it was done at 1:57 p.m., which would have been minutes after the initial appearance," assistant district attorney Nick Heitman said.

"There’s no evidence at all that Miss (Pamela) Mischo had anything to do with any information being deleted from his phone," said defense attorney Jacob Manian.

Prosecutors later said text messages between Mischo and Johnson's daughter, who was at his court appearance, show otherwise. 

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According to prosecutors, Johnson attempted to influence the Greenfield Police Department’s investigation into him through his fiancée, Mischo. Prosecutors said Mischo filed a complaint with the city of Greenfield's human resources department, related to the investigation, at Johnson’s direction. Mischo has not been charged with a crime.

"I feel there is a level of influence being placed on this person," said Heitman.

"She had made that complaint two days prior to this email that Mr. Heitman's pointing to, she made it based on unsolicited messages that she was getting from Det. Fletcher, which are strange and there's no reason for it," said Manian.

Greenfield Police Department

Prosecutors are also seeking a no contact order between Johnson and Mischo, out of concern for if the case were to go to trial. Johnson’s attorney, Jacob Manian, disputed the circumstances and Johnson’s involvement in Mischo filing a complaint with the city, and argued a no contact order would violate Johnson’s due process rights.

The backstory:

Johnson was placed on paid administrative leave this past spring related to an internal investigation into workplace concerns. This past fall, prosecutors charged Johnson with felony misconduct in office and later added another felony charge of destroying data.

This all relates to allegations that Johnson used and directed department staff to install a department-owned-and-managed surveillance system – usually used in criminal investigations – at his home in Wind Lake. Prosecutors also said Johnson deleted data from his city-issued cellphone at around the time he met with city officials who offered him an off-ramp to retire, as a part of the investigation into his use of department equipment.