MILWAUKEE

Witnesses: Beating may have been racial attack

Three police officers were charged Monday in the beating of a man outside a house party in what witnesses have called a racially motivated attack.

The charges come more than four months after Frank Jude Jr. said he was viciously beaten Oct. 24 by a group of men who identified themselves as off-duty police officers.

Jon Bartlett, Daniel L. Masarik and Andrew R. Spengler were all charged with substantial battery. Bartlett and Masarik were each charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, and Masarik also faces a perjury charge.

Witnesses said about 10 people surrounded Jude, beat him and kicked him in the head while holding his arms behind his back when he was face down in the street.

At least one officer who responded to the assault told investigators she saw one of the suspects allegedly hold a knife to Jude’s neck and threaten to kill him, according to a criminal complaint.

According to claims filed against the city by Jude and others, the white officers used racial slurs as they attacked Jude, who is black.

Boston

MS drug voluntarily pulled from shelves

The makers of a promising new multiple sclerosis drug announced Monday they are voluntarily pulling the medication from the market after one patient died and another developed a serious disease of the central nervous system.

Experts said the announcement by Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. marks sad turn of events for MS sufferers who have endured a more than centurylong search for effective treatments for the incurable disease.

The news came three months after the government approved the drug, called Tysabri.

The companies said they will investigate the effects of the medication further, and they are not giving up hope that the drug may eventually return to the market.

Still, even if the drug never comes back, experts said Tysabri has helped advance research in an area that has seen few successes since MS was first identified in 1868.