MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee family's dash camera captured the moment a police officer hung onto a tow truck window during a chase that ended with the driver shot and killed Thursday morning.
The Rios family was on their way to McDonald's when they found themselves in the middle of the pursuit on Milwaukee's south side near 15th and Grant.
"Oh my God, the police coming," a voice can be heard saying in the dash cam footage.
Ana Rios watched as the officer clung to the window of the moving truck.
"He was screaming at the driver to stop," Rios said.
"His life was in danger, the cop, just for doing his job," Rios said.
Milwaukee police say officers initially made contact with the driver, identified by family as Jonathon Otto, 35, because he was wanted for a parole violation. Officers asked Otto to exit his truck, but he refused and drove away.
Watch: Dash cam captures Milwaukee officer clinging to tow truck window before fatal shooting
As Otto sped through the neighborhood, an officer hanging onto the truck's window eventually shot him after issuing several commands to stop. A second officer followed the truck during the chase.
Luis Pizarro was in the area picking up a friend for work when the incident unfolded.
"You just don't come out here to see a cop hanging on somebody's window," Pizarro said.
Pizarro said he watched the tow truck blow through a stop sign at high speed with the officer still holding on.
"I happened to see the tow truck, he blew the stop sign, and what I noticed there was a cop hanging on this person's window," Pizarro said. "He blew at like 50 miles per hour."
Pizarro said the situation could have been far worse.
"If I would have come a little faster, I would not be right here in front of you talking. It would have been him and me," Pizarro said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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