Two Milwaukee police officers were hospitalized after they were struck in a hit-and-run crash while on foot patrol near Sherman Boulevard and Villard Avenue.
Laird Geibel and his wife called the officers over to their van parked on Sherman Boulevard to talk about a recent crime. Minutes later, he said a car hit the back of their van and then the officers.
"All of a sudden one of the officers said, 'Watch out here comes car,'" Geibel said.
The officers did not even have time to react, according to Geibel.
"Andy, the second officer was blindsided. He was hit and went onto the hood of the car into the glass and rolled off," Geibel said.
The officer was pinned against a tree with cuts on his body, bleeding profusely.
"Then, the other officer was caught on the passenger side and ripped around," Geibel said.
He grabbed a towel from his van and ran to put pressure one of the officer's wounds. At the same time, the driver who hit the officers backed up and drove to the end of the block, made a U-turn and took off past them going the other direction.
The neighbors said they are sorry the officers were hurt, but they don't want to lose having them on foot.
"Police walk by here all the time," said Bill Daniels.
"I like the idea of the officers being on foot again because it really gives a presence in the neighborhood," Geibel said.
