"It's bad:" Two dead, three injured after a crash on Milwaukee's west side



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- "We need help." That is the message from Milwaukee police after two people were killed in a wreck near Hi Mount Boulevard and Lloyd Street on Wednesday afternoon, March 25th. Police say the crash involved a stolen vehicle traveling at high rates of speed. Three people were hurt.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn calls car thefts "an epidemic" in the city of Milwaukee. He did not mince words at a press conference at the scene of this wreck Wednesday afternoon.



"These are no longer just property crimes. People are being killed," Chief Flynn said.



Chief Flynn said around 3:30 p.m., a stolen auto driven at a very high rate of speed was southbound on Hi Mount ran a stop sign at Lloyd St. The stolen vehicle was struck by an eastbound vehicle. There were four teens in the stolen car -- two of them died at the scene. The driver of the stolen car was 18 years old. He survived the crash and was treated for non life-threatening injuries. A second teenager in the stolen car also survived. He is 17 years old -- and is also undergoing treatment for non life-threatening injuries. Both of the survivors from the stolen car are in police custody.

One of the kids who died at the scene of the crash is 16 years old. The other has yet to be identified.

The other person involved in this crash is going to be okay. He's a 47-year-old Milwaukee man who has already been treated and released from the hospital.

"The only good news, if you can call it that, is that the other person, the innocent victim, thank God -- is going to be okay," Chief Flynn said.



Chief Flynn said the driver of the stolen car has been arrested before. He's been arrested as a juvenile for car theft, resisting an officer and possession of a dangerous weapon by a child.  The stolen car was taken with the keys from Milwaukee's south side on Monday.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn



"It's bad, it's bad. We are arresting stolen car thieves at a record rate," said Flynn. "Obviously we need help. We're dealing with immature brains who are suffering no sanctions."

Flynn went on to say, "Two passengers with their entire lives ahead of them are dead because of this reckless, stupid behavior. Now I expect immature people with criminal records to do immature, stupid dangerous things. But I expect something to happen to them when they're caught -- so they can stop being stupid and maybe live to adulthood."

Craig Stingley was surveying the damage at the crash scene. He is new to the neighborhood, and he knows what it's like to lose a young loved one. His son Corey died in a highly-publicized incident at a West Allis gas station in 2012.

"This will definitely change lives in ways that you don't expect until you are in the middle of it," Stingley said.