SHAWANO, Wis. (WBAY) – Ann Retzlaff is back in custody.

On Wednesday, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department confirmed 52-year-old Retzlaff, wanted on charges related to a chase that was in custody. She owns Annie’s Campground in Gresham.

Retzlaff is charged in Shawano County and Menominee County related to the chase. Those charges include eluding an officer, recklessly endangering safety and resisting/obstructing.

A bench warrant was issued for Retzlaff about four months ago after she refused to appear in court. On Nov. 23, Retzlaff sent an email to officials saying she did not intend to appear in court due to fear of COVID-19. Her bond was forfeited.

The Shawano County Sheriff’s Office did not have a statement or additional details to provide at this time.

COURT RULINGS

A judge from Marathon County will hear the case in Shawano County. Online court records show the court assigned Judge Michael Moran to the Ann Retzlaff case on April 11. Moran, a judge in the Marathon County Circuit Court, takes over for Shawano County Judge William Kussel. Kussel recused himself after Retzlaff filed documents saying she was filing a “common law” suit against Kussel, Shawano County District Attorney Gregory A. Parker, and Shawano County Corporation Counsel Larenda Maulson.

Parker is still listed as the district attorney prosecuting the state case.

Action 2 News has not been able to find any official filings of a lawsuit in state or federal court documents. Paperwork obtained by Action 2 News indicates Retzlaff was filing the suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. No records of the lawsuit turn up in a search of the federal dockets.

A document filed in Shawano County states Retzlaff is filing a common law suit against the Shawano County officials, alleging they “did willfully injure, oppress, defraud and deprived plaintiff their unalienable right of due process, secured by the Bill of Rights, with the intent to proceed, unlawfully carrying plaintiff away to jurisdictions unknown.”

The document says Retzlaff “moves this court for an order commanding defendants to cease and desist from their unlawful action against plaintiff and is to release and restore plaintiff to their original state, including the returning of all assets and monies stolen from plaintiff and/or spent to defend.”

Retzlaff’s suit shows she is asking for each defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $1,000 “for each rights violation of plaintiff’s unalienable rights secured by the Bill of Rights.”

The document was signed by a notary in Florida in January.

A separate document filed in December shows Retzlaff requested the Unified United States Common Law Grand Jury to investigate her case and write an amicus brief in support of her efforts.

“In the United States, before any court can have authority to hear a case, the court must have both in-personam and subject matter matter jurisdiction. Any court not a court of record has no authority to proceed without the consent of the persons involved. A court of record is a superior court a court not of record is an inferior court. No judge or legislators can alter that which the people ordained, to alter is high treason,” reads the amicus brief.

A search for the Unified United States Common Law Grand Jury turned up a Facebook page with a link to a website that doesn’t work.

On Nov. 23, Retzlaff sent an email to officials saying she did not intend to appear in court due to fear of COVID-19. This is despite Retzlaff enacting a no-mask policy at Annie’s Campground near Gresham and questioning the science of masking during the pandemic.

Retlzaff wrote, “I fear for my life to be in an enclosed area with people in it that may have the contagion covid. Based on documented, peer reviews on the seriousness of the contagion covid, I will not make a special appearance tomorrow.”

“Do NOT trespass. Read the Constitution! All of you took an Oath of Office to Protect and Defend the Constitution. Our state’s constitution got hijacked only a year after it was written and we must break free from the chains of slavery, the fraudulent banking elite that rule over all of us, the satanic rulers of the world,” Retzlaff wrote.

THE CHASE

A criminal complaint obtained by Action 2 News details the events of May 15 and Retzlaff’s arrest. A Shawano County deputy heard that the Menominee County Sheriff’s Office was involved in a chase with a vehicle registered to Retzlaff. They had tried to stop her for failure to stop at a stop light.

Retzlaff crossed into Shawano County on Highway 47. Four squads pursued her. They deployed stop spikes at County MMM and Peach Road. All four of Retzlaff’s tires hit the spikes, according to the complaint. She continued driving and hit another set of spikes at County MMM and Highway 29. She continued driving.

Retzlaff’s tires were flat and they stopped on Highway 29 west. Deputies approached the vehicle for a high risk stop.

One deputy gave orders for Retzlaff to get out of the vehicle, but she did not comply. A lieutenant who knows Retzlaff positioned himself near her door to speak with her. He informed her that she had to get out of the car, but she said she did nothing wrong. She claimed that she is “a sovereign citizen” and was not obliged to get out. The lieutenant told her she was under arrest.

Officers use a “slim jim” tool to open the passenger door. At this time, Retzlaff accelerated and drove west, according to the complaint. The lieutenant and a deputy had to move to avoid being hit.

The officers were able to successfully perform a road block. A lieutenant approached Retzlaff’s vehicle and broke the driver’s window with his baton. Retzlaff was put in handcuffs and placed under arrest.

At this time, she told the lieutenant, “I got your name, so your [sic] involved in child sex trafficking. Your [sic] covering it all up?” She claimed she had been on the way to rescue an employee from a sex trafficking house in Menominee County.

She told the officers that they didn’t know the Constitution and that as a sovereign citizen she “was not required to stop for law enforcement.”

The chase lasted 5.9 miles.

Retzlaff was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts from the broken window glass. She referred to the officers as “crooked cops,” according to the complaint. She stated she was wrongfully arrested.

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