The date, September 24th,1998, was one of the darkest days in the history of the city of Manitowoc. The shooting death of 27-year old police officer Dale Ten Haken occurred 20-years ago today in the parking lot of a northeast side apartment complex. A former night shift officer with Ten Haken, is current Police Chief Nick Reimer, who says it was two decades ago, but it doesn’t seem that long.
Jason Halda is serving life-in-prison for the shooting, while his accomplice, Michael Watts-Steffen is eligible for probation in 2 years.
Reimer says they try to make things as safe as possible for the officers….
Chief Reimer on one of the qualities he recalls about his police friend.
The current chief and former colleague of Ten Haken said of Dale, “we owe it to him to remember his loss as if it were last year, not 20-years ago.” He became the 3rd Manitowoc police officer to be killed in the line of duty.
