MANITOWOC – Dave E. Remiker, a former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s lieutenant, was ordered to pay more than $15,500 in restitution to the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office and $1,100 in fines after being found guilty of misdemeanor obstructing an officer.
Remiker, 52, was initially charged with misconduct in office, a Class I felony, and accused of mishandling more than $15,000 in cash that was confiscated by law enforcement as evidence in drug-related crimes.
From January 2019 to January 2024, it was Remiker’s job to store the cash securely in an evidence room, figure out how to distribute the funds, deposit the money and hand a receipt to the Manitowoc County Treasurer’s Office.
Instead, Remiker left the money in bags in his desk in an unlocked room or stuffed into random cabinets, according to the complaint. He told investigators he had difficulties keeping up with the demands and the chaos of his job, including keeping track of confiscated cash.
Remiker said he may have mishandled the cash, but he didn’t take it.
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During a plea/sentencing hearing June 12 with Waushara County Judge Guy Dutcher, the felony charge of misconduct in office was amended to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer. Dutcher found Remiker guilty of the charge and ordered him to pay $1,108 in fines and court costs and $15,521.70 in restitution to the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office.
Dave Remiker
According to court records, the restitution was paid in full prior to the hearing June 12.
Remiker was represented by attorney Brett Koehne and the case was prosecuted by Brown County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steuck.
Remiker was involved in investigating Teresa Halbach’s death and arresting Steven Avery nearly 20 years ago. He and other Manitowoc County detectives were heavily scrutinized by Avery’s defense lawyers Dean Strang and Jerome Buting, who claimed Avery was innocent of Halbach’s murder and investigators from the sheriff’s office planted blood and other clues against him.
Remiker was also involved in the 2007 trial of Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, who was also accused of being involved in Halbach’s murder. Remiker was reprimanded for failing to log in a visitor, the husband of a fellow Manitowoc County sheriff’s deputy, to the room of the sequestered jury. He told his supervisors he had no prior knowledge that the man had entered the secured area of the jury, but a report found he “was aware of the husband’s presence at certain times.”
Both Avery and Dassey are serving life sentences in state prison for their roles in Halbach’s death. Avery’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner, told the Herald Times Reporter in early November 2024 a criminal misconduct charge against Remiker could raise doubt about the detective’s involvement in the Halbach murder investigation.
Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Ex Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Remiker guilty of misdemeanor