MILWAUKEE — In just over 12 hours in different parts of the city, law enforcement engaged in chases of stolen vehicles that all resulted in crashes.
Starting Wednesday night around 5:00 p.m., Milwaukee Police attempted to stop a vehicle driving recklessly and disregarding traffic signals near S. 13th and W. Layton Avenue. That vehicle eventually crashed into a daycare vehicle with 10 children inside. No children were seriously hurt and the suspect, a 22-year-old, was taken into custody.
About eight hours later, around 3:17 a.m. Thursday morning, another pursuit. This time, MPD Officers spotted a stolen vehicle near 91st and Silver Spring wanted in connection with a shooting. The driver took off and eventually, officers used stop sticks near 68th & Hampton to end the pursuit. Two people in the car ran and were eventually shot by police.
Then, around 11:15 a.m., UW-Milwaukee Police went after a vehicle suspected to be stolen. The driver hit a bicyclist and then, was clipped by a vehicle and careened into two parked cars, lifting each one up above it. Those occupants ran from the scene and have yet to be caught. The car caught fire shortly thereafter.
“All of a sudden, I hear a boom,” Adrian Peralta, a junior at UWM said. “I hear people yelling and getting out of the house. Everyone was on the street, maybe like 100 students.”
Peralta was getting ready to go to the gym when he heard the crash.
“We’re lucky enough today that nobody died,” he said. “That’s how I see it.”
Police chases are on a dramatic increase in the last five years after Milwaukee Police started going after suspects more often. The drop came in 2010 when former Chief Ed Flynn all but banned police pursuits. For five years, from 2010 to 2014, there were never more than 100 Milwaukee Police chases in the city. Then, after restrictions were loosened, allowing officers to go after carjackings, drug dealers, and reckless drivers, chase numbers skyrocketed. In 2015, 2016, and 2017, the Milwaukee Police posted chase numbers in the hundreds.
But since 2017, the numbers have nearly tripled, eclipsing 1,000 chases in 2021 and 2022.
However, this crash that looked like it was on a Hollywood movie set was the result of a UW-Milwaukee Police chase. That department has its own pursuit policy.
In order for a UWM Police Officer to initiate a chase, the occupant(s) of a vehicle has to have committed, is committing, or is about to commit a violent felony. The Standard Operating Procedure provides examples of violent felonies, including “homicide, recklessly endangering safety, and other crimes against a person in which violence is an element of the felony offense.” Additionally, if the vehicle the suspect(s) are in was used during a violent felony, they can also give chase. The third rule is if “the vehicle or occupant(s) present a clear and immediate threat to safety of others.”
UWM Police Chief David Salazar says officers went after the vehicle after learning it was stolen. The driver hit a bicyclist along the way, who was not injured, and eventually crashed into the two parked cars. The people inside the car ran from the scene.
“At this point, we do have a number of leads that we’re following up on and the investigation is very active,” Salazar said.
“I feel like there are better ways to do it,” Peralta said. “Like tracking cars or people, versus putting everyone else at risk because police chases can get out of hand. Especially in Milwaukee.”
Stolen vehicles are still a major issue in the city of Milwaukee, despite numbers being on the decline. Milwaukee is on pace for over 6,000 stolen cars this year which would be down 40.5 percent from 2021 and 23 percent from 2022.
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