Warbird Information Exchange

Documents: Wagstaff abusive to police during arrest at EAA

By Jennifer K. Woldt • of The Northwestern • February 1, 2009

Correctional officers at the Winnebago County Jail went "above and beyond" normal operating procedures when they dealt with air show pilot Patty Wagstaff during the booking process after she was arrested for driving drunk down a Witmann Regional Airport runway during the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture, according to documents released by the Winnebago County District Attorney's office.
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Wagstaff, 57, was verbally abusive with corrections staff during the booking process – which includes fingerprinting, taking a mug shot, collecting identifying information and posting bond – and called officers "pigs" and "Iraqi wannabees" when she was brought into the jail after she was arrested July 31.

Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Key in December ordered Wagstaff to pay $500 in fines plus court costs after Wagstaff pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer and her first-offense drunken driving in December. In addition to the fine, Wagstaff's driver's license was revoked for eight months.

Key on Feb. 11 will review a motion to reconsider the license suspension. The motion states that the suspension should have been retroactive to the date of the offense.

Six months after the incident took place, the Winnebago County District Attorney's office released the police reports in response to an open records request by The Northwestern. The documents give the first clear picture of what happened on the airport runway and in the jail after the famous stunt pilot had been arrested.

The incident began when security officials at AirVenture observed Wagstaff driving a Ford Escape at a very high rate of speed down a closed runway at Witmann Regional Airport around 11 p.m. on July 31. The vehicle skidded off the runway and drove on the grass towards the Warbirds area before security personnel blocked the vehicle and called police, according to the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department incident reports.

When officers arrived, Wagstaff struck Deputy David Roth on his arm several times as he tried to get her to exit the vehicle. Once she was out of the vehicle, officers had to wrestle her to the ground in order to handcuff her and take her into custody, the reports state.

Wagstaff on Friday told The Northwestern it is normal for pilots and performers, who are provided courtesy cars and passes to drive on the festival grounds, to drive on the grass to get from AirVenture grounds to where performers' airplanes are located.

"I made a mistake and got on the runway," Wagstaff said. "But we had all the credentials. It's totally normal. It's expected. It's another part of what's so bizarre about the whole thing."

Wagstaff remained uncooperative and resistive while Deputy Stefanie McMillin transported her to Aurora Medical Center for a legal blood draw, twisting away from McMillin as she tried to guide her in order to ensure Wagstaff, who was still handcuffed, did not fall and hurt herself.

Once Wagstaff arrived at the jail she continued to be verbally abusive, lacing her comments with profanity and calling the officers "pigs," the reports state.

Because Wagstaff was from out of state, was being booked on misdemeanor offenses and had four men waiting to post her bond, Lt. Todd Christie urged jail staff to "tolerate her verbal abuse," and complete the booking process.

After being uncooperative while staff tried to gather information from her and refusing to submit to a breath test, jail staff escorted Wagstaff to a cell for "uncooperative and belligerent" behavior. There, Wagstaff was assisted to the ground so officers could perform a pat search on her.

"At this time inmate Wagstaff stated, 'I feel like I'm in Iraq.' Wagstaff also stated, 'You guys are all Iraq wannabees,'" Officer Craig Bohn wrote in his report.

Wagstaff continued to be uncooperative when she was brought out of the cell to have her fingerprints taken.

"Wagstaff stated to me, 'You are not going to touch me. You are disgusting and people like you have AIDS,'" Officer Teri Petri wrote.

Wagstaff said she "probably did use a few choice words" during her booking "because I'm not used to being treated that way." She said she felt officers overstepped their bounds.

"I don't think they gave me a chance. They didn't offer me a field sobriety test," she said. "They were just real excited when they got there and I never understood why."

When Wagstaff was asked to step against the wall so a booking mug shot could be taken, she initially looked straight ahead and "raised her right hand and lifted up her middle finger," Petri's report states, and she repeated the action when Petri tried to take a profile photo.

Wagstaff eventually completed all of the booking tasks and posted her bond using a credit card. Christie escorted her to the building lobby where she was turned over to four men who were waiting for her.

Throughout the process, Petri noted Wagstaff was "demeaning and rude," and that inmates are not usually booked into the jail with the behavior Wagstaff was displaying.

Elizabeth Corey, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said Wagstaff's pilots license remains valid, but is undergoing what she described as a "pretty standard" process. She said there is no timeline for conclusion of that review.

Wagstaff has been invited back to perform at AirVenture this year, EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said. She has accepted the invitation, however, EAA officials do not know what days she will be performing. On Friday, the pilot said she was excited to return to AirVenture.

"Everyone in Oshkosh has been so wonderful. The people in stores, restaurants and everywhere couldn't be nicer," Wagstaff said. "It was another reason the whole incident was so shocking to me. The people there are the nicest in the world."

— Jennifer K. Woldt: (920) 426-6676 or jwoldt@thenorthwestern.com.