Milwaukee street race, fatal crash; 2 men charged

MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee men have been charged in connection to a double fatal crash that happened Saturday, Aug. 7 on the city's north side.

Prosecutors say James Hinton, 30, and James Malone, 37, were street racing and caused a crash near 60th and Hampton – resulting in the death of two people in an uninvolved car. An autopsy found both died of multiple traumatic injuries from the crash.

Authorities said the car Malone was driving collided with a car that was making a turn. According to a criminal complaint, the victim's car was thrown into a utility pole by the impact, causing "catastrophic" damage. One of the victims was found pinned inside, the other on the ground having been ejected from the car.

The complaint states a car driven by Hinton followed Malone's car into the intersection, proceeded into the median and collided with several boulders before hitting a parked vehicle.

Surveillance video from a Milwaukee County Transit System Bus showed the victims' car was halfway through a legal turn when Malone's car struck the passenger side at a high rate of speed, passing vehicles. Just prior to impact, Hinton's car could be seen following Malone's, also at a high rate of speed. 

Data downloaded from Malone's airbag control module shows that he was traveling as fast as 123 mph within seconds of the crash. He was going 102 mph at 0.1 seconds before impact, the complaint states. The same data from Hinton's car found he reached speeds as high as 120 mph, decreasing to 94 mph at the time of impact. The speed limit at the location of the crash is 30 mph.

Malone admitted to police that he was driving and was the only person in his car. Hinton had a passenger, who was injured. The complaint states the victim suffered a broken femur and pelvis. Hinton also admitted to knowing his driver's license was revoked, the complaint states.

Malone is charged with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of operating with a restricted controlled substance in his blood. If convicted, he could face more than 120 years in prison.

Hinton is charged with one count of first-degree reckless injury and one count of knowingly operating a motor vehicle while revoked. He could face more than 28 years behind bars if convicted.

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Hinton involved in fatal 2020 crash

A criminal complaint states Hinton turned into a gas station near 35th and Garfield on Aug. 18, 2020.

When Hinton was turning into the gas station, the complaint states, a motorcyclist collided with Hinton's passenger-side doors and died. 

Hinton said he "saw a blur and felt a violent collision" when he entered the driveway of the gas station. After providing a blood sample, a toxicology test found THC in his system.

Reporting reckless driving

The Milwaukee Police Department asks residents and community partners to discuss the dangers of reckless driving with their peers, acquaintances and youth to discourage them from engaging in this type of activity.

MPD is committed to collaborating with the community and system partners to combat reckless driving together. Reckless driving incidents can be reported on the department's Traffic Safety Unit website.