'Don't move! You're going to get shot:' Man charged after 3 pursuits in 2 days in January in West Allis
WEST ALLIS -- Police made several arrests after three pursuits in two days in January. The suspects were wanted for a range of crimes, including stolen property, drug possession and bail jumping. Some were driving at more than twice or three times the speed limit.
Three pursuits in two days in January by WAPD
Steven Austin, 29, of Milwaukee faces four charges:
According to a criminal complaint, early on Jan. 4, around 2:15 a.m., an officer in a marked squad spotted a vehicle with heavily tinted windows in the area near 60th and Walker. The officer ran the plate and learned the owner had a suspended license. At Hawley and Siegfried Place in West Allis, he activated his lights to perform a traffic stop. The vehicle stopped at Adler Avenue. As the officer approached, the vehicle sped off. A pursuit ensued, with the suspect vehicle disregarding a red light at Hawley and Bluemound. The pursuit was terminated at 49th Street.
Investigators soon learned the vehicle had stopped near 82nd and Congress and the driver and passenger were switching places. At the scene, officers found Austin standing outside the vehicle and another person in the driver's seat.
The complaint said the other person in the vehicle, a 29-year-old woman, was removed, handcuffed and searched. Investigators found a pink handgun in her pocket, and while she was being booked, heroin and crack cocaine were recovered. She indicated Austin told her to conceal the drugs in her body during the pursuit. The complaint said investigators recovered 1.15 grams of heroin and .17 grams of cocaine.
Three pursuits in two days in January by WAPD
Three pursuits in two days in January by WAPD
Austin told investigators he "placed the heroin and cocaine on" the woman and gave her the handgun during the pursuit -- which he said he had previously stolen from her "one day when she was at work." According to the complaint, he said he fled "because he knew he had a valid warrant for his arrest." He said the day after Thanksgiving, he was arrested following a domestic violence incident with the woman, and said he knew he wasn't supposed to have any contact with her.
Three pursuits in two days in January by WAPD
When asked if he was driving through West Allis to find people to sell drugs to, he said, "Possibly."
The complaint said Austin was convicted of strangulation in 2018, and was ordered to have no contact with the woman.
Three pursuits in two days in January by WAPD
Austin is the only person charged in connection with these three pursuits. One ended with two people brought to the ground -- one accused of fleeing in a stolen vehicle and the other fleeing and possession of marijuana.
Thankfully, no one was hurt in any of these incidents.