Wis. officer in fatal shooting charged with sexual assault

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a black man that sparked unrest in the city in August sat in a bar and watched coverage of the violent unrest a day later, saying he did "whatever (he) wanted without repercussions," according to a criminal complaint released Thursday that charged the officer with sexual assault.

Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown made those comments to a man Heaggan-Brown would sexually assault hours later after the man became heavily intoxicated, the complaint said.

Heaggan-Brown, 24, is charged with two counts of felony second-degree sexual assault, and two counts of prostitution, a misdemeanor. He also is charged with one felony count of possessing or distributing a recording of nudity without consent.

In an unrelated charge, Heaggan-Brown is accused of shooting Sylville Smith, 23, on Aug. 13 in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood when Smith ran from a traffic stop.

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After the alleged assault Aug. 14, Heaggan-Brown texted police Sgt. Joseph Hall, whom he considered a mentor: "Need your help big time … (Expletive) up big time … But need to handle this the most secret and right way possible," according to the complaint.

Heaggan-Brown later told Hall the sex was consensual "but admitted that (the alleged victim) was drunk and had 'medical issues,' " the complaint said.

Prosecutors also allege July 30 that Heaggan-Brown assaulted a second man, also intoxicated, and took pictures without his consent. In addition, the complaint contended that Heaggan-Brown paid for sex with men on two different occasions last year and this summer.

The incidents all occurred at Heaggan-Brown's home, it said.

The seven-page complaint portrays the young officer as a sexual predator who assaulted men after drinking with them, paying other men for sex and boasting about special privileges he had.

The sexual-assault counts are unrelated to the shooting, which remains under investigation.

Heaggan-Brown made an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon with lawyer Michael Steinle, according to online court records. Court Commissioner Grace Flynn set bail at $100,000 and a preliminary hearing for Oct. 27.

According to the criminal complaint about the assault charges, a man said he met Heaggan-Brown through Facebook in July because he was looking for another musician to help with his music. Heaggan-Brown is a rapper.

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The two exchanged text messages as Haeggan-Brown tried to meet him, the complaint said. They went to a bar late on the night of Aug. 14 where the man, who didn't usually drink, was given a Long Island iced tea.

Heaggan-Brown and the man watched TV coverage of the Sherman Park unrest and protests as the bartender brought over shots of liquor.

The man told police he had trouble remembering what happened after he left the bar with Heaggan-Brown but said he remembered waking up to Heaggan-Brown raping him.

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The man said he felt drugged during the assault. Hospital staff noted the man teared up and looked extremely traumatized as he recounted what happened.

Heaggan-Brown said he and the man had been at the bar and when the man began to act “weird and unresponsive.” He brought the man to the hospital.

Hours after the man, whose blood-alcohol level was later determined to be between 0.19% and 0.23%, was hospitalized, Heaggan-Brown sent the text to Hall. As as frame of reference, adults can be charged with drunk driving if their blood-alcohol content is 0.08% or greater.

In the July 30 assault, Heaggan-Brown went to a strip club with a group that included the alleged victim, who became very intoxicated. He woke up the next morning in Heaggan-Brown's bed next to the officer with no memory of how he got there.

The man later found photos of Heaggan-Brown having sexual contact with him while he was passed out.

During the investigation, Milwaukee police searched Heaggan-Brown’s cell phone and found text messages indicating he also was attempting to pay money in exchange for sex. The phone also had a video of Heaggan-Brown having sex with another person who recalled to police making “a couple hundred dollars” from Heaggan-Brown in exchange for sex.

Heaggan-Brown has been suspended from the department as an internal investigation proceeds, police said. The department said the officer is in custody though the Milwaukee County jail online inmate list did not list him.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has said police body-camera footage shows Smith was armed with a handgun and turning toward the officer when he was shot. The officers' body camera footage has not been released publicly, and state Attorney General Brad Schimel has said it won't be until District Attorney John Chisholm makes a charging decision.

As elsewhere, Milwaukee unrest decades in the making

The Wisconsin Department of Justice conducted an investigation into the shooting and gave the results to Chisholm's office, which continues to review it.  Chisholm gave no timetable for its release.

The fatal police shooting touched off two nights of violent unrest in the Sherman Park neighborhood, which many observers said had its roots in decades of systematic problems including segregation and poverty. During those two nights, eight businesses were torched, at least six squad cars were damaged, at least four officers were injured and two teens were wounded in separate shootings.

Authorities estimated the damage at several millions of dollars. Federal and state law-enforcement officials' investigation into the arson continues.

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Heaggan-Brown began his career as a police aide in 2010 and became a sworn officer three years later. The police department commended him in 2014 for helping a homeless woman.

Two days before the fatal shooting, a notice of claim alleging “excessive, unreasonable and unjustified force” by Heaggan-Brown and his partner, Peter R. Hauser, was filed with the city. The excessive-force claim alleges that Heaggan-Brown and Hauser, both on bicycles, illegally stopped a vehicle April 15.

Heaggan-Brown was facing widespread threats on social media in the aftermath of the shooting, and at a news conference Aug. 14, Flynn said the officer was out of town for his own safety.

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A records request for Heaggan-Brown's personnel file remains pending.

"In any large organization there may be a time that one, or a few discredit the overall. This is by no means reflective of the overwhelming majority of good officers," said Mike Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, as part of a longer statement.

"The MPA condemns all criminal behavior by any member of society, whether part of this organization or not," he said. "In all situations, it is imperative that fact(s) are allowed to dictate the outcome."

Contributing: Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow John Diedrich and Ashley Luthern on Twitter: @john_diedrich and @aluthern