Milwaukee vehicle theft; owner injured, has 2 toes amputated

MILWAUKEE - A 19-year-old Milwaukee man has been criminally charged in connection with a vehicle theft. The owner of the vehicle was injured during the incident and is wheelchair-bound for six weeks. 

The accused, Omarion Stewart, is charged with the following:

• First-degree reckless injury
• Operating a motor vehicle without owner's consent

Vehicle theft

The backstory:

According to the criminal complaint, on March 11 the victim went to a gas station near 76th and Appleton to purchase cigarettes. 

The victim said as she was leaving the gas station, she found herself blocked into her parking spot by two other vehicles: a blue sedan and a black SUV. 

The victim began engaging with the motorist from the black SUV. At that time, a passenger from the blue sedan got into the victim's vehicle, a Volkswagen Arteon, which was still running, the complaint states. 

Court filings say the victim heard another patron yell, "Hey, they’re getting into your car!" That's when the victim ran up to her vehicle and was able to halfway enter the car when the subject, later identified as Omarion Stewart, drove away. 

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Per the complaint, Stewart allegedly sped over a curb with the victim's body hanging out of the front passenger door. As a result, the victim's left ankle and foot were crushed.

The victim suffered fractured toes and an open laceration, which exposed her bones. Doctors eventually amputated two of the victim's toes – and she is wheelchair-bound for at least six weeks, according to the complaint. 

Man arrested

What we know:

Stewart was found about two hours later driving the Volkswagen Arteon, fleeing police officers in a high-speed chase, court filings say. 

He was eventually arrested. He was wearing the same black sweatshirt and distinctive shoes depicted in the gas station video as the individual who drove away with the victim's car, crushing her foot, the complaint states. 

According to the complaint, Stewart told officers a "far-fetched, outlandish story" of how he obtained the victim's vehicle. He claims that sometime after 10 p.m. that day he began searching social media on his girlfriend’s phone to buy a car, because he "had some money." 

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Stewart told police he found the Volkswagen Arteon in a listing on Facebook, and agreed to buy it for $15,000. Then, at 2 a.m. that same night, he claims he obtained the vehicle in a transaction, court filings say. 

Per the complaint, witnesses at the gas station also identified Stewart as the person who stole the Volkswagen Arteon and crushed the victim's foot.