Firefighter arrested on child porn charge
He is taken into custody at a gas station in Montana
A Milwaukee firefighter who fled the area after facing an arrest warrant for child pornography was taken into custody Friday in Montana, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Saturday.
The FBI Milwaukee Division said Robert Rutley, 44, was apprehended without incident after a traffic stop in Big Horn County, Mont. On Feb. 10, the FBI Milwaukee Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force, in cooperation with the Milwaukee Fire Department, executed a federal search warrant at Engine House No. 29, 3529 S. 84th St.
The FBI said authorities conducted a forensic review of evidence seized during the search and on Monday obtained a federal arrest warrant for Rutley, who was assigned to the engine house.
Rutley was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.
The FBI said it determined that Rutley was in Montana and coordinated with the Montana Highway Patrol to make the arrest.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Winburn said he arrested Rutley at a Conoco gas station and convenience store in Crow Agency, which is around 60 miles from Billings.
Winburn and a Big Horn County sheriff’s deputy had been searching along I-90 for Rutley, who was believed to be heading north from Wyoming and driving a 2008 Chevrolet pickup truck with Wisconsin license plates.
Winburn said they saw the truck pull off a highway exit and followed it to the gas station.
“As we’re walking toward the convenience store, I saw him looking straight at us,” Winburn said. “I wanted to get him arrested before he got to his pickup. If we could arrest him before he gets to the pickup, we don’t have to worry about any kind of shooting.”
“He walks out the front door of the convenience store. I geared down on him and asked him to raise his hands, which he did.
“He was completely compliant and did what I asked him to do. We placed him under arrest and put him in cuffs,” Winburn said.
“He told me his name,” Winburn said. “It was his pickup over there with the Wisconsin plates. And he also told me there was a gun in the pickup. That’s it.”
In early 2014, Rutley was suspended for five days without pay, with three of the days waived as long as he completed an unspecified program.
He was among a group of firefighters involved in acts of vandalism that occurred during the Sept. 28, 2013, overnight shift at Engine House 32.
Asked to comment on Rutley’s apprehension, Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said: “The arrest speaks for itself.”
The Milwaukee Fire Department did not return calls for comment.