Police honor citizen help

Bruce Leinweber, senior auditor in the university’s Internal Audit Department, received a Chief’s Award from the UW Police Department at its annual awards ceremony this spring for his assistance in the investigation of the embezzlement of nearly $500,000 in private research funds from the university.

Police say Leinweber was instrumental in helping them document the case against former agronomy professor Edward Oplinger, who resigned last July as a result of the investigation, ending his 30-year career at the university.

In a plea agreement reached last month, Oplinger pleaded no contest in Dane County Circuit Court to one count of felony theft in a business setting and two counts of felony tax evasion and is awaiting sentencing. The crimes carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $30,000.

Also honored with chief’s awards were:

• Diane Steele of University Housing, credited with keeping a suicidal woman on the line while coworkers summoned police, who were able to trace the call and respond to the woman’s address before she could harm herself.
• Tyson Sager and Michael Garity of Schmidt’s Auto, Inc., who had been assisting motorists with stalled vehicles on flooded Walnut St. last June when they saw that several unoccupied vehicles in Lot 76 were about to go under. Sager went underwater himself to attach his towing equipment and move them to higher ground. The effort prevented thousands of dollars in damage to personal property.
• Custodian Bev Cass, who got a standing ovation from department personnel as she was honored for doing an outstanding job of keeping police headquarters “clean and neat and well-appointed, and looking as professional as we try to act,” in Chief Sue Riseling’s words.
• Police officers Stewart Ballweg, John Lind and Bruce Carroll received Lifesaving awards – Ballweg and Lind for using one of the department’s new portable defibrillators to help save a heart attack victim’s life and Carroll for stemming the loss of blood from a victim who had been stabbed in the chest during a fight.
• Thirty department employees received awards for excellent service.