In the early morning hours of December 29, 2006, Madison police responded to a call at State Street Brats. There they arrested a man named Jacob Bauer. As Isthmus reports (Watchdog, August 20, 2010), Bauer was injured seriously enough to be transported to a hospital emergency room. He later filed a claim of excessive use of force against Madison police and received a $27,000 payment from the city of Madison.
On the night of the incident, Elissa Parker, a bartender at State Street Brats, called the Dane County Public Safety Communications [911] Center to report what she felt was unacceptable behavior by the cops. What follows is a partial transcript of that call.
Click here for audio of the call.
911 what's the address of the emergency?
Hi, I'm at State Street Brats, in Madison. ... So a kid smashed a glass over a guy's face, the police came and I think the police almost killed this guy. And I don't think he deserved this. They were kicking him in the head and stomping on his face and bending his neck over to the side, and he's out now and there's blood everywhere and it's very Rodney King-esque. And I know it's he police but this kid is messed up.
The kid that he police took?
Yes. He's lying on he floor unconscious right now, and my boss won't let me do anything because it's the police. But they were kicking him in the head over and over and over, and bending his head over to the side and stomping on his head to try to subdue him. The kid is not okay.
So the kid the police were beating up is not conscious?
Not that I can see. He's just lying on the floor motionless. And there's blood everywhere. It just seems very not right. I've seen kids being subdued; I've worked here for a long time. I've seen fights being broken up. This is not right.
A second call between the 911 center and Parker instructed her to speak to a police supervisor at the scene.
Click here for audio of the second call.
