6 injured, including 2 children and officer, after police pursuit ends in crash



Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



MILWAUKEE -- Six people were taken to the hospital, including two children and a police officer, following a crash in Milwaukee late Tuesday night, July 30. The crash happened during a police pursuit.

"All you hear is like bombs going off. Boom boom boom," said Vincent Luckett, lives nearby.

The chain-reaction crash ended steps away from Vincent Luckett's home.

Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



"The tire markings from the car being hit on the curb and slid," said Luckett.

Milwaukee police say it all began near 15th and Capitol around 10:30 p.m., when officers spotted a suspicious vehicle.

"The vehicle matched the description of an auto wanted for a robbery investigation," Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said.

Police say the driver fled. Officers chased the suspect before he crashed into other cars on the block near 16th and Keefe.

"We heard like a bang crash and drag. Then I heard the kids screaming and running," said Angela Willis, lives nearby.

Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



The chaos was captured on camera.

"We heard the commotion, the sirens coming through," said Willis.

Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



Angela Willis



The violent crash ended with damaged vehicles and six people injured, including the suspect, passenger, another driver and a Milwaukee police officer.

"It was really terrible," said Willis.

The vehicle that was struck crashed into a parked car which was pushed onto the sidewalk and struck two boys, ages 7 and 9. The 7-year-old is Luckett's nephew.

"His bone was broken so they had to repair that," Luckett said. "Screws and stuff like that inside of there."

"Chaos" is how the father of the 9-year-old boy described the crash, but he's thankful his son escaped serious harm.

Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



"Thank God he wasn't killed," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. "It seemed to be a very chaotic situation."

Most recently, the suspect has a history of minor traffic offenses, as well as fleeing police about ten years ago.

Vincent Luckett



"Just stop and think. A second of thinking the right way, this would not have happened," said Luckett.

The driver of the vehicle that was struck, a 40-year-old man, sustained minor injuries.

The two children who were hit were discharged from the hospital.

A 28-year-old male suspect was taken into custody at the location and taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. A 30-year-old female passenger was located in the suspect vehicle and taken into custody as well. She sustained minor injuries and taken to a local hospital.



After the suspect vehicle crashed, an officer exited the vehicle to take the suspect into custody and was struck by a responding squad. He was taken to a local hospital and is being treated for some serious injuries but non-life threatening. The injured officer is a 34-year-old male with 5 years experience.

Police pursuit ends in crash near 16th and Keefe



The investigation is ongoing.

"Milwaukee police released the following statement on the injured officer:

Last night we had several officers appropriately engage in a pursuit of a vehicle possibly wanted in a robbery.  As the situation unfolded, the suspects placed the entire community in danger with their totally reckless and dangerous actions, once again, as the police performed their charged duties.  Near the conclusion of this pursuit, one of our officers was struck while on foot by another responding officer in a squad car.

Although having suffered serious injuries, I’m happy to report that the injured officer is strong, in good spirits, and will recover.  Having personally spoken to the officer in the hospital, I was inspired by his attitude and composure.  After such a traumatic incident, this heroic officer didn’t hesitate to smile in conversation, despite his pain/injuries.  He was truly an inspiration.

Incidents like this highlight the dangers of daily police work in the City of Milwaukee, and all over, for that matter.  What it demonstrates is that our police will always stand up to criminal activity and take action to make the community safer, despite the dangers to their own personal safety.  For this, we express appreciation for our officers, as they are the ones that stand between us and chaos.

By the grace of God our injured officer will be ok in the long run, but we know it could have been much worse.  Having participated in many incidents such as this over my career, I can attest to the fact that not everything goes perfectly or to plan.  Nobody within my membership places any blame on our officer driving the squad that struck our injured officer, quite the opposite.  The striking officer, whom I personally know, is an outstanding officer and good man, who had nothing but the best intent to apprehend the bad guy.  All officers know that in chaotic scenes such as last night’s, there is always risk of all sorts of things happening and any one of us could have accidentally struck our officer.  We have nothing but love and support for both officers!

All officers involved in last night’s incident are to be commended for risking their own lives in apprehending extremely dangerous criminals.  The city is safer because of their work!"


The investigation is ongoing.