Some of the biggest thugs you'll ever encounter are police working sporting events. They are all too typically overly aggresive, rude and condescending. I've lost count of the number of times I've had some dimwit with a badge threaten to arrest me for being intoxicated - and I don't even drink.

Milwaukee's police and sheriff departments are particularly notorious for this behavior. Check this story out - their lame excuse as to why the man was fatally assaulted, and all the hemming and hawing as they attempt to cover it up.

Family wants answers from police after man's death

Report says baseball fan hit head after officer pushed him

By BOB PURVIS
[email protected]

Posted: July 20, 2006

The family of a 66-year-old man who died the day after he was pushed down by a Milwaukee police officer at a Brewers game nearly two weeks ago said they're frustrated by the lack of information from police about the incident.

Glenn Kelly of West Allis was pronounced brain dead a day after the July 7 game at Miller Park. Police had not mentioned the incident in news releases or during regular briefings with reporters.

"They are trying to keep it pretty quiet," Lance Kelly, a son, said.

Kelly said the family has hired a lawyer because they feel the department has stonewalled their efforts to get information about the incident.

When contacted by a reporter Thursday, Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said it was the first she'd heard of the incident.

Later she confirmed that the incident is under investigation by the department's Criminal Investigation Bureau. The officer said to have pushed Kelly was placed on administrative duty July 9, Schwartz said. After the department determines whether criminal charges are merited, the Professional Performance Division will conduct an internal investigation into the officer's conduct, as is the procedure, Schwartz said.

Schwartz would not identify the officer.

Glenn Kelly, his son Michael and Michael's wife, both of Fort Atkinson, took a bus from Fort Atkinson to Miller Park to watch the game against the Cubs, according to a Milwaukee County medical examiner's report.

Police escorted Michael and his wife out of the stands and into an elevator headed for the department's Miller Park command post where they were to be cited for inappropriate behavior, the report says. The report does not characterize the nature of the behavior or the citations.

Glenn Kelly followed, and when he tried to get on the elevator, an officer "stiff-armed" him and he bounced off someone in a crowd that had gathered and fell to the ground, hitting his head, Police Lt. Kristen Webb told the medical examiner's office investigator.

Webb told the investigator Kelly was pushed from the elevator because no one but police are allowed in the elevator when someone is being detained.

The Kelly family's attorney, Jeffrey Pitman, said that Glenn Kelly was trying to find out if his son would be released in time to catch the bus back to Fort Atkinson.

Pitman said Glenn Kelly lost consciousness temporarily but eventually came to, and refused medical treatment. His son and daughter-in-law were released after being cited and they all boarded the bus back to Fort Atkinson, where Glenn Kelly planned to spend the night, Pitman said.

It was on the bus ride home that a volunteer firefighter noticed that Kelly had vomited and was unresponsive, Pitman said.

Kelly was rushed to an emergency room at Fort Atkinson, where a brain scan revealed a brain hemorrhage and a subdural hematoma, according to the medical examiner's report.

He was then flown by helicopter to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, where he was pronounced brain dead the afternoon of July 8 and taken off life support July 12, the report says. The medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death.

Normally when someone dies after contact with police, the department notifies the media.

Kelly's son, Lance Kelly, said he has not been able to get police reports on the incident because department officials have said they are investigating.

Kelly said the family hired Pitman to see if the force used on their father was necessary.

"Think about it. The guy goes to the ball game and ends up dying. It's just so tragic and unnecessary," Pitman said.

Pitman said he is concerned that police hadn't released more information to the family or the news media regarding the incident.