Greenfield Police Officer Charged with Misconduct

A 30-year-old Greenfield police officer has been accused of flinging a woman into her cell and into a steal stool affixed to the floor after the woman had been arrested, and later charged, for driving while intoxicated and fleeing an officer.

Thomas Roszak of Oak Creek was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Thursday with one count of misconduct in public office, a felony that comes with a maximum penalty of 3 ½ years of imprisonment, $10,000 in fines, or both, upon conviction.

According to the criminal complaint, Roszak had removed the woman from a holding cell for booking. During that time, Luke made repeated demands make a phone call. Roszak ordered the woman to return to her cell, and then she put her hands on his chest and said, “I (expletive) hate you,” according to the complaint.

Roszak responded by picking the woman up by her torso, lifting her off the ground and walking her across a hallway to her cell, the complaint says. He flung her into the cell, where she bounced off a steel stool affixed to the floor and then hit the floor, court documents say.

Roszak uttered expletives at the woman, the complaint says, and shut the cell door without checking on her condition.

The woman suffered numerous visible bruises across her body, and the incident was recorded on police surveillance video, according to court documents.

“I am deeply troubled by the alleged conduct and have ordered an internal investigation to determine the extent of rule and policy violations. The information alleged in the criminal complaint clearly does not conform to our high standards of professionalism and our expectations for officer conduct,” Greenfield Police Chief Brad Wentlandt said in a statement issued to news outlets.