Man Drags Woman 500 Feet With Car, Police Say

A 33-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of dragging the mother of his child more than 500 feet – or the equivalent of more than one and one-half football fields – as she clung to his car in attempt to retrieve her 5-year-old.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court this week, Milo Ryan Ocasio was charged with one count of felony recklessly endangering safety – domestic abuse, one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct – domestic abuse and misdemeanor bail jumping.

According to court documents, the child and her mother had been living in Texas, but in either late May or early June, the mother’s aunt brought the child to Milwaukee to visit Ocasio, who has joint custody. The child’s mother flew to Milwaukee in early June to bring her child back to Texas, but Ocasio would not allow her to see the child.

On June 9, the child’s mother made arrangements for her, the child and Ocasio to visit a local Holiday Inn Express so the child could go swimming. When Ocasio fell asleep, the woman took her child and went to her ex-husband’s residence in the 9100 block of West Waterford Square in Greenfield, where the woman had been staying since flying in from Texas.

On June 10, when the woman and her child were getting ready to go to an eight-grade graduation ceremony for the woman’s older son, Ocasio showed up at the apartment complex, reached into the car, took the child and ran toward his vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.

The woman chased Ocasio and attempted to take her child from his vehicle. The woman grabbed for her child and hung onto the passenger side door while Ocasio drove off, dragging her for what officers measured to be approximately 517 feet.

A witness told police Ocasio drove over grass and nearly clipped the woman into a nearby tree while traveling between 20 and 25 miles per hour.

The woman eventually let go or slipped, fell and struck the ground. She suffered a large laceration to the back of her head, a large bump on her head and abrasions on both of her arms. She was transported to Froedtert Hospital, where she underwent surgery to treat a broken toe suffered during the incident. She also suffered soft tissue damage to both of her feet, the complaint said.

According to the Greenfield Police Department report, Ocasio was later stopped by West Allis police in the 1500 block of South 70th Street a short time later.

Ocasio is a repeat domestic abuse offender – he was convicted twice in the last 10 years – and most recently was convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and cocaine, one of his five total misdemeanors since 2010. He faces a maximum of 23 years of imprisonment and $26,000 in fines.