Milwaukee officer who was driving in crash that killed partner is charged with domestic violence

The Milwaukee police officer who was driving in the crash that killed partner Charles Irvine Jr. during a chase last year has been charged with domestic violence in Waukesha County.

Matthew Schulze, 37, appeared in court Wednesday with his attorney, Michael Steinle, and pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanors, two counts of disorderly conduct and one of battery, all with domestic abuse modifiers.

He was released on a $2,500 signature bond and ordered to have no contact with his wife, not possess firearms and stay out of New Berlin except when driving on I-43, according to online court records.

Schulze's charges were first reported by WISN-TV, Channel 12. According to the criminal complaint:

Schulze's wife went to police in New Berlin, where the couple lives, last week and said Schulze, who she said suffers from post-traumatic  stress disorder, had been physically abusing her for years, but that she had never reported it because he warned her he would lose his job.

Earlier this year, he had been put in protective custody after a suicide threat, and upon release, agreed to surrender his firearms, get counseling, not hit his wife and stop drinking. But when the contract expired in June, Schulze got his guns back and started drinking again.

His behavior became more and more unstable and was repeatedly threatening to kill her Only July 31, she said, he flew into a rage and broke glass throughout the house, then grabbed a broken shard and began to cut her arm, saying he wanted to "watch her bleed out," because she was on blood thinners.

After another incident Aug. 11, after which Schulze went to the basement where he keeps guns, his wife went to police the next day.

She recounted a specific incident in January 2018 in which he struck with his fist in the back of her head, which she believes led to a blood clot for which she now has to take blood thinners, and repeated incidents of him squeezing her neck. 

Schulze and Irvine were chasing a man who drove off from a traffic stop on June 7, 2018, when their squad car crashed violently near West Silver Spring Drive and North 76th Street.

Irvine, 23, was killed. Schulze was badly injured and hasn't returned to active duty. 

Ladell Harrison, 29, had his 5-year-old son in the car being chased, along with an unlicensed handgun, according to police. He didn't have a valid driver's license or a concealed carry permit for the gun. He was arrested later the same day, after two more attempts to flee.

He pleaded guilty in February to a slew of charges, including drug delivery from an unrelated undercover investigation months before the crash, fleeing an officer-causing death, and operating after revocation causing death and bodily injury.

Harrison was sentenced in April to 30 years in prison.

The Milwaukee Police Department has not released any records related to the crash that killed Irvine, saying that as of June it remained the subject of a pending internal investigation.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.