Officials give contradicting accounts of incident involving off-duty Wauwatosa police officer
WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A state representative disagrees with what happened at an off-duty officer’s home in Wauwatosa this weekend.
On his Facebook page, Officer Joseph Mensah said protesters shot at him and his girlfriend after threatening and attacking them.
However, a state lawmaker who was at the protest says Mensah is lying about what really happened.
State Representative David Bowen says the police account of what happened is misleading.
Bowen says even though Mensah is framing himself as a victim, he’s far from it.
“The testimony that he provides is not factual, it’s not correct, it’s not truthful,” said Rep. Bowen. “And I think the credibility of this individual should be in question."
Bowen says he attended the protest at off-duty Officer Joseph Mensah’s house Saturday night.
Bowen says the protesters were peaceful, but Mensah antagonized the crowd, inviting protesters onto his property to fight him, pepper spraying them, and even sicked his dog on them.
“He’s showing a level of aggression that I would say matches why he has killed three people in the last five years,” said Bowen.
“I’m giving you the version based on facts and evidence,” said John Milotzky, president of the Wauwatosa Police Officer Association and detective with the Wauwatosa Police Department.
He says they back Mensah’s claim that protesters were trying to kill him.
“It was not a protest as some people have called it, it was a criminal act of violence directed towards an off-duty law enforcement officer,” said Milotzky.
Milotzky says he’s confident the investigation will prove Mensah’s innocence.
But Bowen says Mensah displayed conduct disturbing and contrary to what should be standard for the Wauwatosa Police Department to uphold.
“The narrative that’s being painted right now that Officer Mensah is a victim when there are three real victims that are now deceased and their families that never see them again, we cannot allow this moment to be misused as an opportunity to discredit them,” said Bowen.
This investigation is still ongoing. Wauwatosa Police tell us they plan on releasing more information in the coming days.