Green Bay officer accused of forging ex-wife’s signature
GREEN BAY, Wis. >> A Green Bay police officer has been accused of forging his ex-wife’s signature to sell their car.
Michael C. Jeanquart, 34, of Denmark, will make his initial appearance in Brown County Circuit Court on Wednesday on one felony count of forgery, USA Today Network-Wisconsin reported today.
The criminal complaint alleges he forged the signature of his ex-wife, Rachel Jeanquart, on the title of their 2010 Kia Forte sedan while she was traveling out of state after she told him not to. The officer admitted to a State Capitol Police detective that he signed his ex-wife’s name after he found a buyer for the car via the classifieds website Craigslist, the complaint says, telling the detective he needed money quickly.
Rachel Jeanquart told the detective she didn’t object to him selling the car, and would have signed the title when she returned from a trip to Florida, but that she objected to him signing her name.
“Her complaint was that he took it upon himself to sign her name rather than waiting,” the detective wrote, “after she specifically told him not to do that.”
The complaint did not give the sale price for the car.
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Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith said Michael Jeanquart has been on paid leave since his department learned of the investigation, and has been relieved of his gun, badge and police ID.
Michael Jeanquart does not have a listed phone number. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Door County District Attorney Colleen Nordin is serving as special prosecutor. It’s common to appoint a special prosecutor in Wisconsin criminal cases against police officers so that the local DA’s office can avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The allegations are the latest black eye for a department that Smith has vowed to improve since he became chief in February 2016. Since late last year, officer Michael Rahn was fired because of a falsified report. Lt. Robert Korth and officer R. Casey Masiak resigned amid allegations they harassed fellow night-shift officers. And Masiak and officer Kurt Brester were named in a $1.5 million lawsuit filed by a man, later convicted of armed robbery, who claims they bloodied his head during a 2016 arrest.
