Bembenek and Schultz were married in January 1981 in Waukegan, Illinois. Schultz had two sons and had obtained a divorce from his first wife, Christine, in November 1980. "Fred" Schultz, then a 13-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department. In the months following her firing, Bembenek briefly worked as a waitress at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
The EEOC encouraged Bembenek to file a discrimination report with the Milwaukee Police Department internal affairs division. She took the pictures to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arguing that while she was fired for a minor infraction, the photos proved that other police officers committing more serious violations were not punished. īembenek had in her possession the scandalous photos of Schultz and other officers dancing nude on picnic tables in Gordon Park near one of their favorite hangouts, The Tracks tavern. She had also witnessed the wide-spread use of marijuana, cocaine and other drugs by several members of local law enforcement. After being fired, Bembenek discovered photos of Milwaukee police officers dancing nude and semi-nude at a party sponsored by a local bar in Milwaukee's Riverwest district. Bembenek's subsequent dismissal from the police department on August 25 stemmed from her involvement in filing a false report on Zess' arrest. At a rock concert in May 1980, Zess was arrested for smoking marijuana. While training at the Milwaukee Police Academy, Bembenek met and became close with another female trainee, Judy Zess. Bembenek stated that when female and minority trainees became members of the police force, they were often severely punished or fired for minor infractions during their probationary period while white male officers went unpunished for more serious offenses. She further claimed that female and minority officers were routinely subjected to harassment and abuse during training. In her autobiography Woman on the Run, Bembenek claimed that the Milwaukee Police Department was then composed of "brutal, lazy, apathetic and corrupt" police officers. Bembenek graduated from the Academy in the summer of 1980 and was assigned to the South Side Second District of Milwaukee. Bembenek later said she believed the accusation was made by the wife of a Milwaukee police officer who confronted her at a party about her clothing and accused Bembenek of leading her husband on. Bembenek denied the charge which was investigated but never substantiated. While still a trainee, an anonymous tipster reported that Bembenek was seen smoking marijuana at a party. In March 1980, Bembenek began training at the Milwaukee Police Academy. In 1978, she appeared as "Miss March" in a calendar distributed by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Career and marriage Īfter college, Bembenek worked in retail and had a brief stint as a model. Upon graduation, Bembenek attended Bryant & Stratton College, where she earned an associate degree in fashion merchandising management. She later transferred to Bay View High School where she graduated in 1976.
īembenek was raised a Roman Catholic and attended St. Joseph Bembenek had previously worked for the Milwaukee Police Department but quit after witnessing what he described as corruption within the department. īembenek was the youngest of three girls born to Joseph and Virginia Bembenek in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 15, 1958.
On November 20, 2010, Bembenek died at a hospice facility in Portland, Oregon at the age of 52. At the time of her arrest, she was working for Marquette University's Public Safety Department in downtown Milwaukee. She worked briefly as a waitress at the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Playboy Club. Prior to her arrest, Bembenek was fired by the Milwaukee Police Department and had gone on to sue the department, claiming that it engaged in sexual discrimination and other illegal activities. Four years after, she sought to have the sentence overturned. Upon winning a new trial, she pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to time served and ten years' probation in December 1992. Her story garnered national attention after she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution and was recaptured in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, an episode that inspired books, movies and the slogan "Run, Bambi, Run".
Lawrencia Ann " Bambi" Bembenek (August 15, 1958 – November 20, 2010), known as Laurie Bembenek, was an American police officer convicted of murdering her husband's ex-wife.
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