County, city, several officers named in civil rights lawsuit

A Rhinelander man has filed a federal lawsuit alleging seven Oneida County sheriff’s deputies and two city police officers violated his civil rights.
According to the complaint, filed Sept. 23 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, plaintiff Jacob G. Larson alleges illegal search and seizure, unreasonable extension of seizure, unlawful arrest and failure to intervene.
The complaint details two separate interactions Larson had with law enforcement in February 2025.
Larson alleges county deputies first detained him at a local dental office on Feb. 13.
According to the complaint, Larson was dropping off his child, who had an appointment, and the deputies were responding to a “tip” that he had driven while smelling of intoxicants.
“When the deputies located Larson, they did not smell intoxicants,” the complaint states. “They had no other evidence that Larson had driven under the influence. Nevertheless, the deputies detained Plaintiff Larson, frisked him, and forced him to perform field sobriety tests. All of this was done without reasonable suspicion that Plaintiff Larson had committed a crime or was armed or dangerous.”
Ultimately, one of the deputies advised Larson that he did not believe Larson was impaired and no traffic citations or warnings were issued.
One week later, on Feb. 20, Larson alleges sheriff’s deputies “unlawfully seized, frisked, searched, and (de facto) arrested” him “without reasonable suspicion, much less probable cause.”
In that instance, the complaint alleges, the deputies were investigating a domestic dispute involving Larson’s brother, Jordan.
According to the complaint, the reporting party told 911 dispatch that Jacob Larson’s vehicle had pulled up to the house following the dispute but they didn’t know if Jordan Larson had left in the vehicle or not. There was no indication that Jacob Larson had any involvement in the dispute, according to the complaint.
Later, deputies observed Larson’s vehicle at a local gas station.
“The deputies knew what Jordan Larson looked like based on prior interactions,” the complaint alleges. “The deputies observed only one male, later identified as Plaintiff Larson, pumping gas into the vehicle. They knew this was not Jordan Larson. Upon arriving at the scene, one of the deputies yelled out, ‘Jacob!’ referring to Jacob Larson. One of the deputies approached Plaintiff Larson and ordered him to step towards them. After this order, Plaintiff Larson was not free to leave. The deputies then placed Plaintiff Larson in handcuffs or watched and failed to intervene. At the time the deputies placed Plaintiff Larson in handcuffs, they lacked reasonable suspicion that (he) had committed, was committing, or would commit a crime. The other deputies were also aware that there was not reasonable suspicion that Plaintiff Larson had committed, was committing, or would commit a crime; however, they failed to intervene when (he) was placed in handcuffs. After they placed Plaintiff Larson in handcuffs, one deputy reached into Larson’s back pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. Plaintiff Larson did not consent to this search of his person. The Oneida deputies did not have a warrant to search Plaintiff Larson’s person, and they lacked any lawful exception to the warrant requirement. The deputy then opened Plaintiff Larson’s wallet and located his driver’s license. The driver’s license indicated the man in handcuffs was Plaintiff Jacob Larson, not his brother Jordan Larson. At this point, the Oneida deputies had additional evidence that the man was not Jordan Larson. A deputy then told the remaining deputies that they had detained Jacob Larson, not Jordan Larson. The deputies, however, still did not release Plaintiff. Instead, one of them frisked Plaintiff, while the others failed to intervene. Besides a lack of reasonable suspicion that Plaintiff had committed a crime, there was also no reason to believe he was armed and dangerous. The frisk yielded no contraband. Still, the Oneida deputies failed to release Plaintiff.”
A few moments later, two Rhinelander officers arrived on scene and learned from the deputies that the man being held was Jacob Larson not Jordan.
According to the complaint, the deputies and Rhinelander police defendants “proceeded to
question Plaintiff Larson about his brother’s whereabouts.”
Larson was handcuffed and questioned for approximately 30 minutes after the officers knew he was not Jordan, the complaint alleges.
Ultimately, no charges of any kind were filed against Jacob Larson.
The complaint lists a total of eight counts.
Count 1, against deputies Joseph Hallihan and Mitchell Ellis, alleges illegal search and failure to intervene in connection with the Feb. 13 incident. Count 2 alleges the same two officers unreasonably extended the seizure of the plaintiff on Feb. 13.
Count 3 alleges unreasonable seizure against deputies Christopher Coniglio, Thomas Williams, Matthew Rudolph, Andrew Berg and Luke Drummond regarding the Feb. 20 incident. Count 4 alleges illegal search/failure to intervene against deputies Coniglio, Williams, Rudolph, Berg and Drummond also related to the Feb. 20 incident. Counts 5 and 6 allege unlawful arrest and illegal seizure. Coniglio, Williams, Rudolph, Berg and Drummond are listed as defendants as are City of Rhinelander officers Kurt Helke and Ryan Larsen.
The final two counts allege that Oneida County and the City of Rhinelander are liable for the actions of their officers as they were all on duty and acting within the scope of their employment during the incidents in question.
John H. Bradley, of the Madison law firm Strang Bradley, is representing the plaintiff.
In response to a request for comment, he noted that the “Fourth Amendment protects everyone—parents picking up kids from the dentist, or someone filling up at the gas station. Those rights belong to all of us, and that’s why this case matters.”
“The goal of this lawsuit is not only to vindicate Mr. Larson’s rights, but to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else in Rhinelander, Oneida County, or Wisconsin,” he added.
“Now that Mr. Larson’s civil rights lawsuit has been filed, the insurance companies for the City of Rhinelander and Oneida County need to take a look at the facts and decide whether they want to concede that the officers violated Mr. Larson’s constitutional rights and resolve this case fairly and inexpensively. If they choose not to, we are prepared to present the case to a jury and let the community determine whether Mr. Larson’s constitutional rights were violated and, if so, what remedy is appropriate.”
It should be noted that Strang Bradley represented another Oneida County resident, Corey Rossiter, in a separate recent civil rights lawsuit against Oneida County. That lawsuit was settled in July with the county agreeing to pay $4,001 plus costs and attorney’s fees.
For his part, Rhinelander city attorney Steven R. Sorenson stated that the city had yet to be served with a copy of the complaint at the time this reporter contacted him. He also noted that the plaintiff did not submit a notice of claim prior to filing the lawsuit.
“As far as the role of the officers based on the alleged facts in the pleadings, Oneida County Officers were in charge of the incidents and the City Officers were any backup if needed,” he wrote in an email to the Star Journal. “The suggested charges were not city charges so it seems likely the City had no involvement other than observation and scene control if needed. Based on the pleadings this was solely a Sheriff’s Department matter and they would have had jurisdiction. Again this is based on the facts in the pleadings I have no independent information.”
Rhinelander Police Chief Lloyd Gauthier and Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman declined to comment.