If someone wasn’t paying their rent, would you put them in charge of money at your business? Would you give them a job with lots of responsibility? According to a search of Michigan Court cases, Brian Wheeler had been involved in 23 court cases before being hired by GHAPS in March of 2000 and 48 at the time of his death in 2022. Although some offenses were for common traffic violations such as failing to wear a seat belt, driving without insurance, and speeding, others were a little more serious. There were at least two instances of driving with a suspended license, and three instances where he was required to post bond before being released. In addition, judgements were entered against him in three civil cases. This all took place during the 10 years from the end of 1989 to 2000 when Brian was living in Muskegon, and all before he was hired in March 2000.
According to an article in the Holland Sentinel Brian Wheeler was hired by GHAPS in March 2000 by Superintendent Rick Kent. By all accounts, he was an outstanding employee. Much more recently he was promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent. One thing that’s odd is that about 12 of his court cases were closed during the same month as he was hired?
Don’t get me wrong, everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves second chances. None of Brian’s court cases involved violence, and people liked him, but he always paid late fees in conjunction with his violations. That should have been a red flag! One would think that after the first time being issued a ticket for failure to register a vehicle and purchase insurance, one would not make the same mistake in the future. This was not the case with our former Assistant Superintendent Brian Wheeler. He continued to accumulate petty traffic violations at least until 2016 which is the last record of driving with no insurance and an expired registration. After that his violations were property related civil infractions, such as storing junk outdoors and failure to maintain a structure. In May of 2005 a civil case was filed against Brian Wheeler by a financial company which resulted in garnishment of his wages between 2014-2018 when the case was closed.
The sheer volume of court cases which involved the GHAPS former Assistant Superintendent should have been reason to use caution in offering a position which involved a large amount of responsibility and the handling of financial matters. It begs the question, what type of background checks are being performed by GHAPS?