Months after arrest, Milwaukee woman received birthday card signed by Wisconsin State Patrol; agency says they didn’t send it
CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A birthday card is bringing anything but celebration for a Milwaukee 19-year-old and her mother.
Essence Barrow-Lee says she was pulled over on Milwaukee's northwest side by an officer with the Wisconsin State Patrol on Feb. 2. Through her own video of the arrest she sent to CBS 58, an officer asked Barrow-Lee to step out of her vehicle. When she refused, the officer broke through her window to remove Barrow-Lee from the vehicle, according to Barrow-Lee.
Essence Barrow-Lee
“I was scared,” Barrow-Lee said. “I already have bad anxiety, so it just worsens everything.”
Online court records show Barrow-Lee was ticketed for excessive speeding and lacking vehicle registration. The WisDOT Office of Public Affairs said the Wisconsin State Patrol arrested her for obstruction.
Barrow-Lee and her mother, Jennifer Lee, say they believe the force used by the officer was excessive given the two tickets she ended up receiving.
“I really want him to have some type of consequence,” Barlow-Lee said.
Lee filed a complaint with the Wisconsin State Patrol about the arrest. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Office of Public Affairs said they are investigating the complaint.
Of all the things Barrow-Lee was expecting in the mail after the arrest, what she ended up receiving was not one of them: a birthday card signed by "Wisconsin State Patrol."
Card sent to Essence Barrow-Lee
“It had confetti all through the card, so when you opened it, it was nothing but a mess,” Barrow-Lee said. “It was a joke.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Barrow-Lee’s mother, Jennifer Lee said.
The WisDOT Office of Public Affairs said Wisconsin State Patrol did not send the individual a birthday card. The agency told CBS 58 it believes the card came from somewhere outside of Wisconsin State Patrol.
The entire situation is frightening Barrow-Lee.
“I am scared. I feel like I’m being followed. Every time I leave the house, I’m checking up and down the street to make sure cars are not just sitting and doing unusual things,” Barrow-Lee said. “I’m just more cautious now.”
Lee says she is reaching out to other agencies to help figure out where the card came from and bring some sense of justice to her daughter.
“I don’t know where to go with this and I don’t know what to do with it,” Lee said.
