Milwaukee man guilty in 2019 police officer death
Milwaukee resident Dalquavis Ward was convicted by a jury in Racine on Friday in the shooting death of Racine Police Officer John Hetland.
Hetland was killed in June 2019 during a robbery at Teezers Bar and Grill, 1936 Lathrop Ave., Racine.
The trial lasted five days and Ward was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Ward maintained he was innocent during the trial.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
Events of June 17, 2019
Hetland, a 24-year veteran of the Racine Police Department, was off duty on June 17, 2019, when he met a friend at Teezers for dinner.
According to the complaint, surveillance video shows Ward approaching Teezers on foot. He is seen trying to enter a locked door marked “private,” which leads to upstairs apartments, then asks some patrons sitting at picnic tables if they have a key while showing a gun.
One patron pointed Ward toward a different door, and Ward walked into Teezers through a rear door. Video inside the bar shows him going directly to the cash register and demanding money while pointing a black handgun.
Ward entered the bar and demanded money. As the bartender was giving Ward money, Hetland jumped over the bar to try to stop the robbery.
During the struggle, Hetland was shot once in the chest, and Ward left the bar.
Ward was arrested less than two weeks later.
Ward was in prison for a 2014 armed robbery of a liquor store in Racine and was released from prison four days before killing Hetland.