WOMAN SHOT DURING BUST SUES COUNTY

West Milwaukee Police Say She Appeared Armed As Warrant Was Served

A northwest side woman alleges she was simply arising from bed when she was
shot inside her home last year by a Milwaukee County sheriff's deputy who
was executing a "knock" warrant, according to a Circuit Court lawsuit filed
Wednesday.

Deputy Scott Mathis shot 19-year-old Jacqueline Paasch in the leg April 7
while executing a search warrant for drugs inside her home in the 1700
block of S. 54th St. in West Milwaukee, where she lived at the time, West
Milwaukee police said then. He shot because she appeared to have a weapon
when he asked her to show her hands, but she did not have a weapon, police
said.

The SWAT team was assigned to enter the home about 6:30 a.m. when Paasch
was shot and a 16-year-old boy was later arrested on a drug charge,
according to news reports. Paasch was treated at a hospital for a flesh wound.

According to the lawsuit, filed by Brookfield attorney Mark Thomsen, a
search warrant was issued because of suspicion of marijuana inside the
home, but a West Milwaukee police sergeant erroneously informed West
Milwaukee officers and SWAT team members that the warrant was for cocaine
and heroin as well. The SWAT team smashed in the front door of the home
before any of the family members could answer a knock at the door, the suit
says.

Paasch sat up in bed and put down one foot when Mathis kicked in her
bedroom door without a flashlight and shot her, the suit says.

A sheriff's spokesman and a county attorney said they had not seen the
lawsuit and could not comment. A West Milwaukee police spokesman could not
be reached for comment.

The lawsuit seeks money for pain and suffering and for alleged violation of
civil rights for the handling of the search. The case has been assigned to
Judge Timothy Dugan.