Milwaukee man's bullet hit innocent bystander on bench: complaint
Isaiah Saffold
MILWAUKEE - Isaiah Saffold, 26, of Milwaukee faces multiple charges after prosecutors say he fired a gun and his bullet struck an innocent man sitting on a bench near 27th and Fond du Lac. It's one of a series of accusations against him over a seven-day span.
Prosecutors say on May 10, the mother of Saffold's children was beaten by a group of people on Lovers Lane, and afterward, she drove her vehicle toward them, and someone in the group fired at her one time. The mother of Saffold's children then followed the group as they drove east on Fond du Lac, calling Saffold to tell him what was going on.
Saffold joined the pursuit, the complaint says, and near 27th and Fond du Lac, he "fired rounds from his gun," hitting a man who was sitting on a bench nearby. As of the writing of the criminal complaint, that man remained in critical condition. The shooting happened right in front of the Milwaukee Public Library.
The vehicle associated with the beating eventually crashed near 20th and Fond du Lac. Someone in that vehicle told investigators after the crash, they got a ride from some stranger, the complaint says.
Days later, on May 13 and 14, prosecutors say Saffold showed up at another girlfriend's house and hit her.
On May 17, the complaint says Saffold's vehicle led police on a pursuit that lasted for more than seven miles. He was arrested after running from the car. Prosecutors say he was a passenger but "given that this was Saffold's vehicle, and he was wanted for several incidents, complainant reasonably infers that Saffold aided and abetted the fleeing."
Prosecutors say Saffold told investigators he "had a gun, got rid of it and never intended to hit that man." He wrote the victim an apology letter.
The complaint includes Saffold's statement to police, reading, in part:
"I asked her where she was, and I pulled up, and I did what I did. She didn't ask for me to do nothing. She didn't saying…aww you got to do this. It was never nothing to do with her, everything did with me. I put this upon my family. I took myself away from my family. Bro, I didn't have her do nothing. I didn't say do nothing. I just asked her where she was at that time, and that's how everything happened. I did everything. I'm the cause of everything. I hurt this man. I apologize to this man. And this is my
doing. Everything is my doing, no one else's doing, just mine. I was by myself. This was me, bro. This was me. I did this, bro. I put my child and my child's mother in a situation, and I put the people who I hurt in the situation. That's about it, bro."
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He added that "he was doing something wrong, and the injured man just got in the crossfire."
"My intention was only to hurt the people who hurt me," he said, adding that he "got rid" of the gun. Prosecutors say he didn't know what kind of gun it was, only that it was a rifle, and he didn't know how many times he shot it.
"I just know that I hurt some people, bro, and I know that I'm in trouble," he said, according to the complaint.
His apology to the victim read as follows, according to the complaint:
"I, Isaiah J Saffold apologize for stopping your day, your life, your journey. I was in the wrong, sir. You were an innocent bystander, and my wrongdoing put you in harm's way!!! I don't deserve your sympathy, sir. I am very sorry that I've done harm to you, sir. I hope you could forgive me one day and be able to look past this."
Saffold was previously convicted of possession of narcotics and cannot possess a firearm as a felon, the complaint notes.
Saffold made his initial appearance in court Sunday, May 21. Cash bond was set at $175,000.
Charges include first-degree reckless injury, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, possession of a firearm by a felon, vehicle operator flee/elude officer and resisting/obstructing.