The family of a 25-year-old man charged with felony battery of police, Demetrious Lowe, said Milwaukee Police don’t know how to handle people going through a mental crisis.
“I thought there was something done after the Dontre Hamilton situation where these officers were trained to deal with people going through mental crisis, but when you look at the video it shows they haven’t been trained or they ignored their training,” said Tory Lowe, Demetrious’ cousin.
Lowe made his first court appearance Monday. He’s been charged with three counts of felony battery of a law enforcement officer and faces a maximum 18 years in jail.
The charges stem from the May 2 incident near the area of 51st Boulevard and Capitol Drive.
Court documents released Monday stated someone called complaining “that a man had kicked in their door” and that when officers approached Lowe, he was “bleeding from his left arm” and repeatedly stated, “I’m King James!”
The court documents also said pepper spray and baton strikes didn’t work on Lowe and while officers tried to restrain him, and he hit three of them in the face.
Lowe’s aunt says the criminal complaint doesn’t tell the entire story.
“After they had him down on the ground, and you can clearly see that they had him where he was no longer a threat to them, they continued to beat him they continued to tase him, they continued to punch,” said Frana Lowe.
Frana doesn’t believe this incident was racially motivated. She also said Demetrious is not mentally ill but was just going through a mental breakdown. She believes he drank alcohol or took drugs and that led to his odd behavior.
“I feel that just basically the rage he had no control over,” said Frana.
Demetrious’ attorney said his client saw evil spirits right before his scuffle with police and that he hardly remembers anything from what happened. He said Demetrious will undergo a mental health evaluation soon to see if he competent to stand trial.
Milwaukee Police declined to comment further on this case. During this internal investigation, three Milwaukee police officers are on administrative duty and another is suspended with pay.
