Todd and K-9 Gemma

I was given up for adoption immediately after birth and was adopted by my parents
who lived in St. Cloud, MN. I had a relatively normal childhood, we went to the lake on
weekends and hunting in November. During 7 th grade we moved to Maple Grove for my Dad’s
job, this transition was hard as I had left friends I knew since kindergarten and had to start all
over, my grades suffered as a result of trying to find out where I fit in in this new community. I
played baseball, basketball and golf and tried to improve on my grades.
I graduated from High School and went to Anoka Ramsey Community College to save
money, not knowing what I wanted to do with my future, I figured, general 2 year degree first,
then maybe I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do after. At the time I was thinking either
Law Enforcement or History. I had an injury to my back while working a part time job that took
Law Enforcement off the table at that time, it also took longer to finish my 2 year degree. I met
my wife in my final semester at the community college and we started dating. In 2005 I started
at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul for my Bachelors in History. I was still dealing with
my back, and focused on my studies. In 2006 I asked Angie to marry me, and after I finished
my Bachelors Degree we were married in 2007. I wanted to work for a Historical Society but
the job market was minimum and difficult. I had finally recovered from my back injury and I
thought why not get the training for Law Enforcement in case I cannot find work in the History
field.
I went back to Metro State for the Law Enforcement Certification program. I completed
my courses and the Skills portion at the old CCJLE facility in St. Paul, close to the State
Fairgrounds in 2009. Unfortunately this period was tough for law enforcement positions due to
the large number of candidates and very few positions. There would be 1000 people applying
for 1 position with some Departments. I began being a Reserve Officer with the City of Anoka
Police Department in 2009 as I looked for employment. In 2012, the job market was still tough
so I took a job with the Anoka Police Department’s Security Unit working at the Anoka Metro
Regional Treatment Center, we were not licensed law enforcement but handled all incidents
that occurred within the facility so APD wouldn’t have to be called there multiple times a day.
Finally in 2014 I was hired by the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office in Northwestern
Minnesota and started August 2 nd , of 2014. I worked there until Thanksgiving of 2015. A few
months earlier my wife was pregnant with our first child, and I was living half the month alone
in Mahnomen working, and coming home to our house in St. Francis on my days off. With a
baby on the way I looked for a job closer to home.
I applied for the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office and was hired. I started December 1 st ,
2015. Our son Raylan was born in April of 2016. In May or June of 2016, I was involved in an
incident on the job that changed my life, and ultimately lead to my medical retirement in 2020.
I assisted Braham Police Department on a call, after clearing the call around 230-3 in the
morning, my partners and I headed to Cambridge for coffee. We were all in our fully marked
squads heading South, I was the third car in the line. My partners both passed a vehicle with
its hazards on and did not stop, I stopped.
When I stopped I recognized it as the car from the incident in Braham. It was the
juvenile driver from the Braham incident and his mother who had come to pick up him and the
car from the scene. She said that her son was coming down from, or going up on whatever
drugs were in his system and he was making threats of pushing her out of the vehicle while it
was driving, and she was afraid. She said they had a tire lose air and had called for a tow.
She requested I wait on scene until the tow arrived because of her fear. I attempted to explain

to the juvenile male that the decisions he was making would lead to jail, this was the third time
he had been stopped in our county with another male that had a large quantity of drugs in a
backpack. The other male was arrested but I explained that if this juvenile male continued this
behavior, once he became an adult, he would be joining the other guy in jail for the drug
charges. He attempted to get me to fight him, and said everything he could to make me angry.
My goal was to keep anything from happening so him and his mom could get their tire
changed and leave the scene. The tow arrived an hour and a half later, the male was
extremely agitated. He approached the tow truck driver and began threatening him and
getting in his face. The tow driver, who was the owner of the tow company, asked that I keep
him in the vehicle because he won’t change the tire while the kid is in his face. I attempted to
get the juvenile male to comply and he kept refusing. He sat in the car but wouldn’t shut the
door. I warned him that if he didn’t I would place him in my squad until the tire was changed.
He continued to refuse, as I reached in to grab him, he lunged out of the vehicle at me and
punched me. The ditch was very sloped and I attempted to stay on the highway and back
away from him. He continued to punch and our feet got tangled and we fell into the ditch. I fell
face down with the juvenile male sitting on my back, he put one arm around my throat and he
tried to pull my handgun out of my holster with his left hand. I had one hand on my firearm to
keep him from taking it and was attempting to get him off of me with my other hand. It felt like
I was in the ditch for hours even though it was mere seconds. I thought I was going to die. I
figured he would get my gun after I passed out and shoot me, then most likely his mother, and
then the tow truck driver. The tow truck driver saw what was happening and kicked or hit the
juvenile male in the side of the head, giving enough of a distraction for me to get him off of
me. My radio had fallen off and I grabbed it and called for help quickly, I then placed him into
cuffs.
Backup arrived and I was treated on the scene by paramedics and finished out my
shift. I could have died and kept working. Everything changed for me that day, I didn’t realize
what I was dealing with but my entire personality changed. That day I did not sleep, I didn’t
get any time off, I sat in my office contemplating suicide. I then went to work that evening
even feeling the way I did. After this incident I was less friendly to people I interacted with on
the job, I was angrier all the time, I mistrusted everyone including coworkers and family. I
continued to work for another four years, this behavior got worse. In November of 2019 I was
brought into the Sheriff’s Office by the Sheriff And Lt. For a conversation, they gave me an
indexed page list of “events” that had occurred within the last year that concerned them. They
told me I couldn’t return to work until a shrink said I could. I went to the shrink figuring it was
anger issues or something simple. When I was told I had PTSD I realized my career was
over. I then spent the next almost year fighting my department to prove I had PTSD. I finally
medically retired in September of 2020.
Since 2020 I have been a stay at home dad taking care of our 9 and a half year old,
and almost 4 year old boys. I am unable to work in any capacity due to my PTSD. I am seeing
a therapist and taking medication but I am still struggling with the hypervigilance, nightmares,
panic attacks, and anxiety. My wife and I barely go on dates because I have a hard time in
public, and any time I do spend in public I become very agitated when I return home due to
how stressed I was from being in public. My family then has to deal with my verbal anger
issues. I deal with these issues by eating food, and as a result I have gained 100 pounds
since I retired. Anytime these issues appear I eat, even if I’m not hungry.

I hope you choose to support me because my therapist has been recommending I look
into getting a service dog since 2020. I did not do it sooner because we already had a dog as
a family pet, and I didn’t want to make her jealous of a new dog that would get to go
everywhere with me. We had to put her down in July of 2025 just after her 12 th birthday due to
health issues. I love dogs and connect with them almost immediately. When I was working in
Mahnomen County, there was a stray dog that was mean to everyone, locals and cops alike,
but it would let me pet it, and on hot days I’d let him chill in my squad car. I love dogs and
given the chance would work hard to make the dog I get into a well trained working dog with
your support.
I reached out to Soldier 6 because my son’s therapist recommended the organization
to us. She was familiar with their work and said that they were a local organization. I
appreciate being given the opportunity to try to work with Soldier 6.
Thank you,
Todd Willenbring