'Sickening:' Loved ones visiting cemetery upset after man drives through gravesite during police pursuit



MILWAUKEE -- A police chase overnight in Milwaukee leads officers through a graveyard.

You can still see tire tracks in the grass where the suspect vehicle attempted to flee officers through this cemetery. Those visiting their loved ones on Friday, Aug. 10 call the chase not only reckless, but incredibly disrespectful.



It's been a difficult summer for Treniece Patrick and her daughters.

"I lost my baby a couple of months ago and my baby's father as well the same day, Patrick said.



That's why Friday morning, she's paying her respects to loved ones laid to rest at Glen Oaks Cemetery in Milwaukee.

"We are firm believers in coming to our family's graves and just visiting them and praying over them and getting strength and courage from them," Patrick said.

A suspect in a police chase narrowly missed graves just hours earlier. Milwaukee police said around 3:30 a.m. officers attempted to stop a car driving recklessly near 7th and Fiebrantz. Instead, the driver sped off into the cemetery just a few blocks away and continued onto the grass when he reached a fork in the gravel road -- finally coming to a stop after driving over several plots and striking a headstone.

 



"I would want somebody to pay for it," Patrick said. "I would want someone to get charged for it, I would want them to go to jail for it, basically. I wouldn't want them to get away with it."

Police said a 29-year-old man was arrested. While the physical damage only consists of a few destroyed flowers -- Patrick said just because the people here are no longer alive doesn't mean those who've buried them won't be affected.

 



"I think that that's messed up. Why would you of all places come to a cemetery?" Patrick said. "And rolling over graves, desecrating graves, it's not right. It's disgusting. It's sickening."

According to police, after the chase ended, the suspect got out of the car and tried to run away. He was taken into custody a short time later.