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Tuesday
Nov022004
Tuesday, November 2, 2004 at 02:45AM
The party at a Bay View
duplex started sometime Saturday night with alcohol flowing freely and
music blasting, according to neighbors. It ended with a man's beating
in front of the home early Sunday. Squad cars arrived after a 911 call,
but it was soon clear this wouldn't be a routine house party fight. The
owner of the duplex in 2800 block of S. Ellen St. and many of the
party-goers were off-duty Milwaukee police officers. Internal
investigators were summoned, starting an investigation that continues
into who beat the 26-year-old Milwaukee man and to determine if someone
should be charged with a crime. The victim also said he was sodomized
with a knife. A department spokesman declined to comment on the case;
however, police officials contacted the district attorney's office
earlier this week. Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin said he expects
to get reports from the department and then decide if criminal charges
are warranted. The man told
investigators that at least one person at the party called him a racial
slur, according to sources in and out of the department. The victim is
biracial. The
victim, who asked not to be named because he fears retribution, was
hospitalized for several days. Safran said he was taken to the hospital
by police officers, not by ambulance. On Thursday, the victim's face was still badly bruised, his left eye
almost entirely swollen shut. He met briefly with a reporter before
referring questions to Safran. The man told investigators that the
off-duty officers kicked him repeatedly in the head and one attacked
him with a knife, at one point sodomizing him with it, department
sources said. Safran declined to talk about his client's injuries,
other than to say, "he was beaten severely." [more]