Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputy, assigned to David Crowley's security detail, charged with two felonies, accused of threatening behavior of an ex-girlfriend

A Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office deputy, who was assigned to County Executive David Crowley's security detail, has been charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors, accused of repeatedly harassing and threatening his ex-girlfriend.

Corie Richardson, 32, is charged with stalking and threatening to communicate derogatory information, both felonies. In addition, he is charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage to property and obstructing an officer, all misdemeanors.

Richardson appeared before Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Saturday, Richardson went to the Hartland Police Department, which is the jurisdiction where his ex-girlfriend lives, to file a "well-being check" on his ex-girlfriend. At the time, he said he received suicidal text messages from her.

While the officer was reviewing Richardson's phone, another message came through from the ex-girlfriend saying: "Don't give me this 'I'm going to text her so I can look like the good guy ay I tried to make sure she is okay' bull‑‑‑‑. I'm not suicidal, I am not homicidal; I gave you my phone when I went to see you today. You sent whatever text from my phone."

The Hartland officer then became suspicious and told Richardson he would look into it further. The officer subsequently called the ex-girlfriend.

The ex-girlfriend told the Hartland officer she was expecting a call from police because Richardson told her he was going to do so. She told the officers Richardson was going to "push an emergency detention on her if she didn't wait outside his apartment tonight."

Richardson also threatened to send a copy of the police report to the ex-girlfriend's ex-husband, and father of their 3-year-old daughter, so that she would lose custody of her daughter.

The ex-girlfriend went on to detail incidents of when Richardson was harassing and threatening her, including that she was concerned Richardson would release private and explicit photographs of her that he had in his possession, because he has threatened to do so in the past.

On Saturday morning, Richardson met with his ex-girlfriend at a park while on duty with the Milwaukee County Executive's security detail. Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson James Burnett confirmed Richardson was part of Crowley's security detail for just over two years.

The ex-girlfriend said while meeting with Richardson, he made her give him her cellphone and Apple Watch, while he gave her an old work phone so she could utilize GPS because she wasn't familiar with the area.

The Hartland officer then committed to meeting with the ex-girlfriend in person, which he did later that night with the presence of a female officer.

The ex-girlfriend went on to detail more threatening behavior from Richardson. She said he has made her write essays about how "trashy" she was, and said he would control who she talked to.

The ex-girlfriend said Richardson showed up at her residence last week demanding to enter. "She was huddled with her daughter in a closet with her gun since she was afraid he would break in when he was pounding on her (patio) door," the criminal complaint states. She said he made a statement like how "she better make her shots count and she better shoot him in the head."

The ex-girlfriend later detailed that Richardson banged so hard on the door it caused a dent; he also knocked on her daughter's bedroom window. He then got into her secured garaged and Facetimed her to show her that he could get in there anytime. When he left, he told her to go look at her car.

The ex-girlfriend found that her driver's side seat was so badly cut up that wires for the heated seat were showing.

Because of this incident, Richardson told his ex-girlfriend that she needed to stand outside his apartment for nearly three hours and to record the entire duration, which she did the next night.

In a different conversation, Richardson told his ex-girlfriend that the Hartland police station wasn't close enough if she needed it. She told Richardson she would be pursuing a restraining order against him, to which he said, "It's only a piece of paper and paper can't stop me."

In a written statement about their relationship, the ex-girlfriend said she met Richardson during mobilization to Fort McCoy in October, both of them are in the military reserves.

Richardson would get upset with her when he found information of previous relationships on her phone, and insisted that she get rid of her social media accounts. The ex-girlfriend added that he didn't trust her around any other males, including family members.

Richardson would continually threaten to send her "information" to her family and military unit, and said he would also threaten to post it all around the apartment complex.

The ex-girlfriend sent a number of recordings to officers detailing some of these incidents.

Richardson has been employed by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office since Dec. 2, 2018. He was with Crowley's security detail since September 2020.

"He remains employed with MCSO but has been relieved of duty, with pay," Burnett said. "Any query about Deputy Richardson’s status outside of MCSO should be directed to the arresting agency or the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office."

Richardson is currently in custody at the Waukesha County Jail. At Wednesday's hearing, bail was set at $25,000.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputy accused of threatening ex-girlfriend