Common Council approves offering up to $160,000 to handcuffed man kicked by Milwaukee cop

The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday approved allowing the city attorney to offer up to $160,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a handcuffed man kicked in the head by a police officer in 2017.

Rafael Rosales was handcuffed and on the ground following a 20-minute police chase when he was kicked by Officer Michael L. Gasser on Aug. 4, 2017. The kick was so hard that Rosales was left with a broken nose and later had an epileptic seizure, according to the complaint filed in federal court.

Gasser was criminally charged. He resigned from his job as part of a plea agreement in which he was convicted of battery and two counts of disorderly conduct.

"If there’s going to be a settlement in this case, the city must give Mr. Rosales a full apology that recognizes that Officer Gasser should have been fired long before he brutalized my client and that there was a police cover-up after the brutality in furtherance of the (Milwaukee Police Department) code of silence," Rosales' attorney, Ben Elson, previously told the Journal Sentinel.

Assistant City Attorney Susan Lappen defended Gasser's work at the police department before he kicked Rosales and countered that there was no cover-up or code of silence.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.