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Alleged Milwaukee Shake Shack officer shooter new charges
A Milwaukee man accused of shooting a police detective at Shake Shack in the Third Ward is accused of leading police on a chase in a stolen car two years prior. Prosecutors say he told investigators he's "known for stealing vehicles and getting in police chases."
MILWAUKEE - Keasean Ellis-Brown, 19, of Milwaukee, charged in connection with the January 2022 shooting of a police detective at Shake Shack in Milwaukee's Third Ward, faces new charges in connection with a January 2020 car theft.
This marks the third open case filed against Ellis-Brown in Milwaukee County in less than a year.
Ellis-Brown's new charges, filed Monday, Aug. 22, include fleeing or eluding an officer; driving or operating a vehicle without the owner's consent and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
The reason the 2020 charges were filed two years later is because, according to the West Milwaukee police chief, Ellis-Brown promised prosecutors he would stay out of trouble. As a result, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with being behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle in January 2020. Then, in January 2022, prosecutors say he shot a police detective in Milwaukee. Thus, the promise was broken.
On Jan. 14, 2020, police spotted a vehicle without its headlights on headed north on Miller Park Way near Greenfield. Police started following, and prosecutors say the driver sped up, reaching 70 miles per hour in the 30 mph zone. Police attempted a traffic stop near 37th and Greenfield, but the driver was able to maneuver around a stopped vehicle, slowing to 30 mph to get through the intersection, nearly striking another vehicle on 35th Street.
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The vehicle, a Jetta with Maryland plates that had been listed as stolen, was eventually found abandoned near 40th and National.
Two people, including Ellis-Brown, were found walking nearby, in the area near 40th and Greenfield. Ellis-Brown was arrested and interviewed by police, telling investigators a friend called and told him he had a vehicle for sale, the criminal complaint states.
Ellis-Brown added that the friend told him the car had been "re-tagged," which Ellis-Brown understood to mean it was stolen, but they took the tags off and changed the VIN number. He said he paid $400 for the vehicle "but didn't think there would be any issues because it had been re-tagged." He said he and a friend, both "known for stealing vehicles and getting in police chases," met up to get the vehicle he purchased, the complaint says.
After purchasing the vehicle, Ellis-Brown said he picked up two others and saw the police squad. He admitted to fleeing from police, prosecutors say. He said he eventually stopped the car, and "they all got out and ran."
Shake Shack shooting
Ellis-Brown faces multiple charges in connection with the Jan. 13, 2022 shooting of Milwaukee Police Detective Andrew Wilkiewicz at Shake Shack in the Third Ward, including attempted first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon; second-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon; attempting to take and drive a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime; drive or operate a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime; carrying a concealed weapon and felony bail jumping.
His jury trial has been scheduled for October.
The 19-year-old was taken into custody on March 15 after weeks on the run.
Milwaukee Police Detective Andy Wilkiewicz
Ellis-Brown is one of three men charged in connection to the incident; Dionta'e Hayes and Timonte Carroll-Robinson are the other two. Hayes on Aug. 2 pleaded guilty to three charges, including driving or operating a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime; attempting to take and drive a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime and felony bail jumping. Sentencing was scheduled for October. Carroll-Robinson pleaded guilty in July to three counts, including driving or operating a vehicle without consent, as party to a crime; fleeing or eluding an officer and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, Aug. 18.
According to a criminal complaint, a DoorDash driver had a food order to pick up at the Shake Shack. She parked her car outside the restaurant and had her three children with her. Once inside, "the staff told her that someone was taking something out of her car."
The complaint states the DoorDash driver saw someone running from her car and "getting into a silver car stopped at the intersection." When she went back out to her car, she found an iPhone, and her daughter "told her that the suspect got into the front driver's seat, looked back and said, 'Oh (expletive)' when he noticed the children."
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Dionta'e Hayes, Timonte Karroll-Robinson, Keasean Ellis-Brown
The DoorDash driver went back into the restaurant with the iPhone and noticed the man walk up, demanding his phone and reaching into the DoorDash driver's pocket to get it before he "tried lifting her up to slam her to the ground," per the complaint.
A man in the Shake Shack then identified himself as police, grabbed the man off the DoorDash driver and wrestled him to the ground, the complaint states. The DoorDash driver said "she saw the suspect reaching for his waistband and that the store employees were yelling for her to get behind the counter." The DoorDash driver then "started running and heard two gunshots and then a brief pause and then three additional shots."
Detective Wilkiewicz suffered four gunshot wounds. He was released from the hospital five days after the shooting.
A police chase ensued shortly after the shooting, and authorities arrested Hayes and Carroll-Robinson.
Off-duty Milwaukee police officer shot trying to stop robbery in Third Ward
Officers spotted the vehicle and tried to stop it near 27th and State. The chase stretched just over two miles until, near 29th and Burleigh, the men fled on foot in an alley after their vehicle crashed.
FOX6 News confirmed the vehicle was stolen from Menomonee Falls.
Ellis-Brown also has an open case in Milwaukee County filed in January 2021 in which he's charged with fleeing/eluding an officer; second-degree recklessly endangering safety and resisting or obstructing an officer.