SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A campground owner charged in connection with a traffic stop — and then with bail jumping and disorderly conduct for actions related to her arrest on outstanding warrants for the first case — has been unable to find an attorney and will represent herself.
Meanwhile, Ann Retzlaff has filed federal lawsuits against the deputies who arrested her last year.
Retzlaff, 53, is charged with eluding an officer, recklessly endangering safety, and resisting in connection with a May 15, 2021, traffic stop. After missing two court dates last fall, a warrant was issued for her arrest. That arrest happened April 20 at the Harvest Restaurant in Wittenberg. The newest charges are for that event.
Retzlaff has been in jail since her arrest April 20, unable to post the $25,000 cash bond. On Thursday, Marathon County Judge Michael Moran lowered the bond to $15,000 cash but said a signature bond was not appropriate due to concerns she does not recognize the court’s authority, and would not show up.
Retzlaff said she continues to make calls to hire an attorney but has not been successful, and would represent herself. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled for a time when Judge Moran can travel to Shawano to preside in person.
As for the federal suits, Retzlaff filed two lawsuits this week, one each against two sheriff’s deputies who were the arresting officers for the May 2021 traffic stop. In them, she claims her federal civil rights were violated.
“Plaintiff was deprived of rights under color of law and did NO harm to anyone or any property,” it claims. “Plaintiff was denied Constitutional rights by both deputies.”
She then lists a dozen claims, including police brutality, kidnapping, conspiracy to cover up human trafficking, and violations of her Second, Fourth, and Fifth amendment rights.
The deputies have not been served with the suits, nor filed responses to the claims.
Retzlaff owns Annie’s Campground, near Gresham. At various stages of interactions with police and courts, she has claimed to be a “sovereign citizen” who was not subject to the jurisdiction of police or the courts.
In the case the arrest warrant was issued for, police tried to pull Retzlaff over for failure to stop at a traffic light on May 15, but she did not pull over, the complaint states. Eventually, traffic stop spikes were deployed, flattening her tires, and the vehicle stopped. An officer advised her to get out of the vehicle.
“She stated she did not do anything wrong, and she was being wrongfully stopped. She stated she is a sovereign citizen and will not step out of the vehicle,” the complaint states.
A deputy tried to pry a vehicle door open when Retzlaff put the vehicle in gear to drive away. Two deputies had to move out of the way to avoid being hit by the vehicle, it states.
The vehicle was stopped a second time. A deputy “broke the driver window with his baton. The door was then opened, and Ann was taken from the vehicle and escorted to the ground. She was secured in handcuffs,” the complaint states.
Retzlaff told police she was rescuing an employee from sex traffickers, which is why she didn’t stop for police, and maintained she didn’t do anything wrong.
The federal suits repeat that claim, saying she was called by an employee to rescue her from sex traffickers, and when she got too close to the house, deputies arrested her.
When she was arrested on warrants for not showing up in court on the original case, she allegedly was confrontational with officers.
Retzlaff has been in trouble with the law before. In 2020, she was ticketed for unlawful use of a telephone for posing as a Shawano County sheriff’s deputy. Her campground also came under fire earlier that year for ignoring protocols to slow the spread of COVID-19.
For her November court hearing, Retzlaff sent multiple messages to the court, arguing she feared appearing in court due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserting the court did not have jurisdiction over her. Judge William Kussel rejected the arguments as improperly filed, and noting they did not cite any proper legal authority.
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