MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A father is speaking out against reckless driving after one of his sons died and another was hospitalized when a stolen car they were in crashed near 36th and Lincoln Friday night.
"Adults, just hug and kiss your kids, because you don't know when the last time you're going to see them," David, the father of the two boys, said. David has asked TMJ4 not to use his full name or show his face.
David lost his 16-year-old son, Giovanni, Friday night, and almost another, 13-year-old Sebastian, in a reckless driving crash.
"He does have a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, punctured lung," David shared.
Sebastian is unaware of his brother's death.
"He wakes up asking how Giovanni is," David said. "He keeps asking about his brother. We have no choice but to keep lying to him right now. We just need him to focus on his own recovery."
Milwaukee police say Giovanni was thrown from a car when it crashed near 36th and Lincoln Friday night. He later died from his injuries. Police say the brothers were in the back seat of a stolen car that was traveling up to 90 miles an hour when it crashed. The driver lost control, clipped a pole, and hit a tree. The car was split in half.
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Police say two other people inside the car took off.
"I just want to say (to) those two boys who were in the car, they left my boys for dead," David said. "They have to do the right thing."
Jordan Morales witnessed the aftermath of the crash.
"If I had to describe that scene in one word, it would be devastating," Morales said.
Morales heard about the crash and went to check out the damage Friday night.
"I've never seen a car sheared in half before," he said. "When I heard it first, I thought it was sensationalism."
Milwaukee police report a 166 percent year-to-date increase in stolen vehicles between 2020 and 2021. David, now planning a funeral for his son, hopes kids get serious about the dangers of reckless driving.
"Kids, listen to your parents," David said. "We don't tell you things to be mean or because we know it all. We've actually lived it."
