Ex-Cape cop pleads guilty to slapping former wife

A former Cape Girardeau police officer who was still a cop when he was charged with slapping his ex-wife in February has pleaded guilty to domestic assault.

Robert G. Ulman II pleaded guilty May 9 to third-degree domestic assault before Associate Circuit Judge Michael Bullerdieck of Perry County. Bullerdieck placed Ulman, who had been an officer just a year before the incident, on two years of probation and ordered him to complete anger management classes.

Police Capt. Steve Strong said that Ulman was terminated because of an internal investigation in March, a few weeks after the incident.

"The department has always taken a strong stand on domestic violence," Strong said. "Police officers are held to an even higher standard."

Ulman, 29, of Cape Girardeau, has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. Ulman could have been sent to the county jail for a year and been given up to $1,000 in fines.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle charged Ulman with the assault after Ulman slapped his ex-wife, Katina N. Ulman, on the back of the head.

Swingle said Ulman saw his ex-wife in a bar on Feb. 15, followed her out to her car where he got into an argument and slapped her on the back of the head.

Swingle emphasized that Ulman was treated the same way as any other defendant, despite the fact that he was a police officer.

"There was no special treatment," Swingle said. "By following his ex-wife out to her car and assaulting her, he showed extremely poor judgment, certainly not the judgment one would want in a police officer."

Swingle said that Ulman pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement and that the victim was satisfied with that agreement.