Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel announced last week that Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Nichols acted in self-defense when he shot bank robbery suspect Robert Lynn following a high-speed chase on Aug. 24.
Schimel led the review of the officer-involved shooting following an investigation by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.
“Under all of the circumstances, there is no question but that Deputy Nichols was exercising the privilege of self-defense when he utilized
deadly force to stop the vehicle being operated by Robert Lynn,” Schimel concluded. “Furthermore, the degree of force he used was the only reasonable decision he could make under those circumstances.”
On the day of the incident at about 2:11 p.m., the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an armed robbery at the People’s Bank North, located at the intersection of highways 12 and 67 in the Town of Sugar Creek.
The suspect fled, reportedly reaching speeds of more than 80 miles per hour.
In a letter to Walworth County Undersheriff Kurt Picknell, Schimel said the “extraordinarily dangerous high-speed pursuit” flowed into Waukesha County where Nichols exited his squad car to deploy stop strips (used to deflate a suspect vehicle’s tires) along the anticipated route.
Schimel said Lynn, apparently seeing the stop strips, chose to go off the roadway in the east ditch toward Nichols despite having a clear view of Nichols outside his squad.
Nichols then fired at Lynn and wounded him in the arm, ending the chase in Mukwonago.
Schimel said Nichols was attempting to get out of the way as quickly as he could, but “the circumstances put him in a position that he needed to take steps to attempt to stop the vehicle before it would strike him.”
“It appears that not only was Deputy Nichols reasonable in his use of force, he was right,” said Schimel.
Schimel said there is no basis to consider any charge against Nichols relating to the discharge of his firearm in the incident.
Nichols, 27, of East Troy was restored to full duty from administrative duty on Sept. 18. The 2011 Deputy of the Year has been a full-time Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy for about five years.
Prosecution of Lynn, 29 of Bloomfield for the alleged armed robbery of the bank in the Town of Sugar Creek is being handled by the U.S. Eastern District Court in Milwaukee, said Walworth County Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo. Bank robbery is a federal offense, she noted.
The incident marks the second time this year that a Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy has used deadly force while on duty.
After a nearly two-month long investigation, then Walworth County District Attorney Phillip Koss found that the shooting death of John Brown in the Town of Lyons by Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Blanchard of East Troy was justified.
According to the review of the incident, Blanchard fired the fatal shots at Brown on May 5 as he was coming toward officers armed with a knife.
