Elijah Clark
BROWN DEER -- 18-year-old Elijah Clark of Milwaukee has pleaded not guilty to felony charges in connection with a crash that happened at Sherman and Bradley in Brown Deer on Saturday morning, April 16th.
Clark faces the following charges:
According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to the area near Sherman and Bradley around 5:30 a.m. on that Saturday for a serious motor vehicle crash into a utility pole and utility box. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a car "with its driver's side wrapped around a utility pole that was partially out of the ground."
Serious crash at Sherman and Bradley, Brown Deer
The criminal complaint indicates Clark was the driver of the car that crashed -- and that there were four passengers in the vehicle.
An off-duty Milwaukee police officer came upon the crash moments after it happened. He told police that "he stopped to check on the subjects who immediately told him not to call police." All five then fled towards an automotive parking lot nearby.
The complaint indicates Clark "suffered several broken ribs on the left side, a punctured left lung, and the left side of (Clark's) pelvis was broken." Others in the vehicle were also hurt -- and were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Serious crash at Sherman and Bradley, Brown Deer
Investigators downloaded the Airbag Control Module information from the car and "discovered that approximately five seconds prior to the deployment of the airbag, the Pontiac was traveling at 80 miles per hour." North Shore Fire Department personnel also informed officers that the vehicle "smelled like alcohol."
When interviewed by police, one of the passengers in the vehicle told them they had driven to Grant Park at about 2:30 a.m. that Saturday. The complaint indicates "they drank alcohol at the park until about 5:00 a.m." After that, Clark drove to Brown Deer where the wreck happened.
Records indicate Clark had been convicted or revoked for a previous OWI-related offense. He was also out on bail for two misdemeanor offenses -- and has a pending OWI in Racine County.
Clark is due back in court on Tuesday, May 24th.