Matthew Craig Nemeth, a law enforcement officer with Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PRNL), was found not guilty of one count of reckless driving during a jury trial on Monday, March 6 in 93rd District Court. Nemeth wore his full PRNL law enforcement uniform and stating that he “was being paid to be there” during the trial.

According to court documents, Nemeth was reported to local authorities for erratic driving by an off-duty law enforcement officer from a different agency. Nemeth said that he was responding to a call in the park, but the allegation was based on driving near the Anna River mouth, which is in the city of Munising.

First responders must obey all vehicle operation laws when responding to emergencies. However, the jury believed that there was not enough direct evidence to convict on the charge.

“All first responders have a duty under the law to operate their vehicles responsibly while en route to emergency situations. The facts of this case were a close call, and the Alger County jury found the defendant not to have operated his vehicle recklessly,” Alger County Prosecutor Robert Steinhoff said in a statement. “While we disagree with the ultimate verdict, we stand by the dedicated work of our police officers in Alger County.”

PRNL staff confirmed that Nemeth is employed by the National Park Service and that Nemeth was out of the area for training between the incident leading to the charges and the jury trial. That training is managed through the NPS central office in Washington D.C. and not decided by PRNL leadership. PRNL staff did not respond to questions regarding any policies for employees wearing uniforms when they are a defendant in a criminal proceeding or if Nemeth was salaried or “on the clock” in some way during the hearing.