Superior Police release footage from squad that ran over person

Superior Police have released video of an incident in which a squad car ran over a person in a roadway, leaving them injured, as well as the name of the officer who was involved.

Video of the Feb. 19 incident shows the squad car turning right onto North 8th Street from Tower Avenue at about 9:36 p.m.

What may be the shape of a person briefly appears on the video before the squad car experiences a bump and then slows down. No person could be seen in the video moments before the squad reached the intersection.

"It is very difficult to see that there is a person or object laying in the roadway, even after slowing the video down and re-watching it many times," Chief Nicholas Alexander said in a news release Friday.

The name of the person who was injured has not been released due to a crime victims rights law. Police say the person has been released from a hospital and is now recovering at home.

Police say Officer Joshua Sislo was the person driving the squad car. The news release says that after the bump, Sislo "looked back into his side view mirror, did not see anything, and assumed he had driven over a piece of snow/ice in the roadway."

A short time later, a 911 caller reported a person laying in the roadway. The video shows Sislo returning to the intersection about 1 minute and 45 seconds later, meeting up with another squad car and another vehicle on the scene.

Police say Sislo, who had been with the department for nine months at the time of the incident, realized he had driven down the road minutes earlier and notified his sergeant that he may have driven over the victim. He had been dispatched to the area to look for a male suspected of prowling cars.

Per department policy, Sislo was placed on administrative leave after the incident. He returned from leave on March 12 and is currently working his regular schedule.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which conducted an investigation of the incident at the request of Superior Police, has completed its investigation and turned its report over to the Douglas County District Attorney to decide whether Sislo should be charged.

The DOJ’s report has not been publicly released. A DOJ spokesperson told WDIO News that the records of its investigation will only be publicly released if the DA decides not to file a charge.

Police say Sislo has fully cooperated with the DOJ’s investigation.

Alexander said in Friday’s news release that it is still not known why the victim was laying in the roadway.