The Milwaukee Police Department says the car that officers pursued Wednesday night before a fiery crash matched the vehicle description in a previous shooting.
Shortly after 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, officers saw a car driving recklessly and wanted for a felony. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle near North 9th Street and Hampton Avenue, but the driver refused, and a pursuit ensued, according to MPD. It ended when the car crashed into a tree. The car became engulfed in flames. The 17-year-old driver and sole occupant of the car died at the scene.
Antonio Hullum told TMJ4 that he had just left a gas station in the area when he saw the chase and crash.
Watch: Witness and neighbor recall police chase that ended in a fiery crash killing 17-year-old driver
"Police had their guns drawn on them. I was like, 'Get out the car.' They had the opportunity to pull him out of the car, because only the front end was on fire," Hullum stated.
Hullum says he met the teen's mother on the scene and shared his account with her.
"Because I felt her pain. I shed a couple of tears," Hullum said.
The next day, flowers were left at the crash site.
"It was a traumatizing event. I can't make it up," Deovion Whiteside said. "It hurt my heart to see stuff like this happening."
Whiteside told TMJ4 that his 3-month-old child and her mother were inside their upper unit right by the crash scene.
"She got to crying and saying, 'I tried to open a window and the flames hit my face like I could feel the heat,'" Whiteside recalled.
Whiteside said thankfully, his child and the mother of his child got out safely through the roof and with the help of a bystander.
Both Whiteside and Hullum believe that this case did not have to end with the death of the teenage driver.
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