Chief’s offer of a gun: a ‘joke’

Carol Rutkowski (photo: Facebook)

By Charles Sercombe
The attorney for City Manager Max Garbarino’s lawsuit against the mayor, city council and police chief promised that damaging information would be released in the coming weeks.
And, he delivered last week with a recording of the chief offering his loaded gun to a member of the Citizens Academy, Carol Rutkowski.
Department investigator Dave Adamczyk recorded the conversation, apparently unbeknownst to others in the room.
During the conversation, Rutkowski informs Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri that she is having trouble retrieving her eyeglasses from an unnamed store.
That’s when Chief Altaheri offers his loaded gun, saying: “Here, take my gun. Point this at his f-cking head and tell him, ‘Give me the frame.’”
He added: “Go put it in his head and tell him, ‘Give me the frame.’”
Garbarino’s attorney, Jonathon Marko, released the recording. Marko is representing both Garbarino and Adamczyk accusing the city of violating the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act.
This week, a video was posted by former city councilmember Adam Albarmaki on social media, where Rutkowski defended the police chief’s comment about offering her a loaded gun, saying it was merely a “joke.”
(In the print version of The Review it was incorrectly reported that the Facebook recording of Rutkowski was posted by mayoral candidate Adam Alharbi. The Review apologies for the error.)
In the recording, Rutkowski can been seen in what appears to be a restaurant, where she says:
“This message is for Dave Adamczyk. Stop lying about me. It was all a joke. You didn’t have no business, Dave, recording me. This didn’t have nothing to do with you.
“I was talking to the chief. … So you better stop what you’re doing because I will sue you. (At this point she breaks into a wide grin.)
“You know you were laughing. You know it, so you can’t go around and say you weren’t laughing because you were laughing.”
On the tape recording that Adamczyk made, there appeared to be no sound of laughter, but some of the recording was muffled.
As for tape recording a conversation, Michigan law allows “one party consent” – meaning the person recording a conversation does not have to receive permission from others to record – as long as all relevant parties are in Michigan at the time of the recording.
However, that law has been interpreted differently by some courts.
Michigan law doesn’t take the casual handling of a gun as a joke, saying:
“Any person who shall recklessly or heedlessly or willfully or wantonly use, carry, handle or discharge any firearm without due caution and circumspection for the rights, safety or property of others shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”
As for the lawsuit filed by Garbarino, it followed almost immediately after he was put on paid suspension by the city council two weeks ago, while a separate investigation is pending into Chief Altaheri for several possible criminal allegations.
The chief has denied any wrongdoing and has welcomed an investigation.
The reason for Garbarino’s suspension is not entirely clear, but apparently has to do with allegations made by the chief. Adamczyk was suspended by Garbarino for his protection, and to help ensure the investigation into Altaheri, which is supposedly being done by the FBI, is not compromised.
Garbarino said Adamczyk’s suspension is part of the department’s policy in such matters.
Adamczyk gathered the recorded evidence to create a basis for an investigation into Altaheri.
Posted June 13, 2025