I-94 Milwaukee fatal crash, SUV drove wrong way: sheriff

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee wrong-way crash on I-94 left two people dead Saturday morning, June 17.

It happened near 32nd Street around 2:30 a.m. and shut down all eastbound traffic. Milwaukee County sheriff's deputies arrived to find an SUV facing the wrong and a small sedan – both with severe damage.

It's the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks; the closer you get, the worse it gets. Before she saw the full extent of the head-on crash, Marie Cunningham said she pulled over and called 911.

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"I’m a former mortician, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve never seen anything like this," she said.

Cunningham said she and other bystanders tried to get the drivers out of their vehicles. 

The driver of the sedan, a 46-year-old man, had to be extricated and died at the scene from "catastrophic" injuries. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Christopher Van Cleve.

The driver of the SUV, a 36-year-old man, was taken to a hospital where he ultimately died of his injuries. The medical examiner identified him as Rei Reynosa. 

Car involved in fatal crash on I-94 (Courtesy: Marie Cunningham)

"On a vehicle extrication we get one engine, two trucks, a rescue company, an ambulance and two battalion chiefs. It is quite a lot, but there’s a lot to do when there’s a person trapped," said MFD Firefighter Nate Leff.

"Every single vehicle accident is different," he added. "It’s just a – here’s the basics of how to cut a person out – and you have to use those basics and adapt and overcome to remove that patient safely."

From stabilizing the car to getting to the person inside, like everything else in the job, every second counts for fire department personnel.

"It’s a very high-stress situation for us," Leff said. "Teamwork and communication is the number one most important part.

"The sooner we can get the person out the better, because there is a golden hour, which is what we call it from the time the accident occurs from the time the person arrives at the hospital."

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After seeing so much devastation firsthand, Leff wishes everyone would "drive a little slower, a little safer."

The sheriff's office said evidence suggests the SUV entered the interstate going the wrong direction somewhere between the Marquette Interchange and 13th Street – more than a mile from where the crash happened.