KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis on Tuesday dismissed a domestic violence case against prominent local businessman Michael Zacker, despite body camera footage showing the alleged victim repeatedly telling police that Zacker slapped her twice across the face, causing her ears to ring and knocking her to the floor. The dismissal, coming less than three months after charges were filed, is likely to be viewed as unusual by many courthouse insiders and criminal defense attorneys, who routinely see domestic violence cases take a year or longer to resolve and frequently proceed to jury trial on comparable evidence.

At a pre-trial conference Tuesday morning before Judge Jason Rossell, Solis personally appeared on behalf of the State and moved to dismiss the case without prejudice. Defense attorney Frank Parise appeared with Zacker. Rossell granted the motion, dismissed the case, and ordered that Zacker’s bond be refunded.

Zacker, 56, is the owner and broker of Cove Realty, a Kenosha-area real estate company. The brokerage has been associated with several local real estate agents, including Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner, who works as a Realtor.

The dismissal comes less than three months after Zacker was charged with misdemeanor battery-domestic abuse and disorderly conduct-domestic abuse following a March 28 incident at the couple’s Pleasant Prairie residence.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim told police that Zacker slapped her across the face during an argument, causing pain and ringing in her ear, before slapping her a second time hard enough to knock her to the ground.

Kenosha County Eye is releasing the responding officers’ body camera footage along with this story. In the footage, the alleged victim immediately tells officers, “He hit me,” before explaining that Zacker struck her across the face. She later states that both sides of her face were struck and repeatedly tells officers that her ears were ringing.

The alleged victim also told officers that the incident was not the first time Zacker had allegedly assaulted her, estimating that a prior incident occurred about eight months earlier. Later in the encounter, while crying and visibly upset, the woman again described being struck twice.

“He swung at me,” she told officers. “He hit me so hard that I fell.” At one point, the woman repeatedly told officers she did not want Zacker to get in trouble. When Zacker suggested she was causing problems by calling police, she responded, “Don’t make me say what you were doing.” The footage does not reveal what she was referring to, and officers did not follow up on the statement.

Police reports indicate the woman consistently maintained that she had been struck. Officers documented that she reported being slapped twice, said the strikes caused pain, and reported a prior unreported incident of abuse. She also completed domestic abuse paperwork and signed forms documenting her allegations.

Officers ultimately determined there was probable cause to arrest Zacker for battery and disorderly conduct. He was booked into the Kenosha County Jail and later released. During the body camera recording, the arresting officer explained to Zacker that Wisconsin’s domestic abuse arrest law required police action under the circumstances. The officer also told Zacker that he believed the allegations would likely result in misdemeanor charges.

The case proceeded through the court system for nearly three months after prosecutors reviewed the police reports, body camera footage, witness statements, and formally charged Zacker. However, on Tuesday, Solis personally moved to dismiss the case.

The decision is likely to raise eyebrows among local criminal defense attorneys and others familiar with the Kenosha court system. Kenosha County Eye has observed numerous domestic violence cases proceed to trial on evidence that appeared no stronger than the evidence presented in this case. Here, prosecutors had a 911 call, statements made at the scene, body camera footage, written domestic abuse paperwork, a documented prior allegation of abuse, and criminal charges that had already survived review by the District Attorney’s Office.

Kenosha County Eye has previously sought comment from Solis regarding controversial charging and dismissal decisions in other cases and did not receive a response. As a result, Kenosha County Eye did not seek comment from Solis regarding Tuesday’s dismissal. Because the dismissal was entered without prejudice, prosecutors retain the option of refiling charges in the future, but almost never do.

Zacker is presumed innocent.

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