New bodycam footage in off-duty cop chokehold death released

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Body camera footage of a 2020 incident involving a former Milwaukee police officer accused of killing a Hispanic man has been released -- just less than a month away from the start of his trial.

CBS 58 News received eight pieces of evidence from a FOIA open records request on the incident, which happened more than three years ago now.

The footage has all been redacted -- mostly muted, and lots of blurred and blacked out images.

A three-minute, 35-second 911 call reports a man attacking two others in a Milwaukee home at around 7:28 a.m. on April 19, 2020.

The redacted version of the call does not reveal what the criminal complaint states, which reports "distressed breathing" and "gasping in the background...a voice believed to be the Acevedo's, saying, 'let me go home.'"

Michael Mattioli was off duty on April 19, 2020, when investigators said he put Joel Acevedo in a chokehold at his home during a party.

Police body camera footage shows a number of officers pulling up to the home about 30 minutes after the 911 call was made. They're greeted by a man named Chris, who explains a fight woke him up and that Acevedo was Mattioli's friend.

The criminal complaint states that Mattioli told police Acevedo stole from him and punched his friend Chris. Mattioli also told police he "held Joel down, around his neck" until they came.

Officers said they found Acevedo unconscious and not breathing. About 10 minutes after starting compressions, they found a pulse and rushed him to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

This is a case that's been delayed time and time again. For now, jury trial is set to begin on Nov. 6.