South Milwaukee man accused; driving wrong way on I-794, causing wreck
Wrong-way driver wreck on I-794 near 2nd Street, Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE - A 36-year-old South Milwaukee man is accused of driving the wrong way on I-794 and causing a collision that seriously injured a woman on Sunday, Oct. 20. The accused is Matthew Sinclair – and he faces a single charge of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
According to the criminal complaint, a Milwaukee County sheriff's deputy was dispatched around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 to eastbound I-794 near James Lovell Street for a crash. Dispatchers for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office learned from several 911 callers that there was a collision with a wrong-way driver -- and two vehicles were disabled in traffic.
A deputy arriving on the scene provided medical attention to the defendant, Matthew Sinclair, who was driving a silver sedan. A woman driver was trapped inside of her vehicle -- and indicated to the deputy that she was in a lot of pain "all over her body." Once extricated from her vehicle, the woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Matthew Sinclair
Deputies spoke with multiple witnesses on the scene. One says "she had been driving eastbound on I-794 and had seen a driver coming at her on the wrong way of the freeway. (The witness) stated that, in order to avoid a collision, she swiftly moved over to the right land and put on her hazard lights to alert people behind her. (The witness) stated shortly after moving over, she heard a loud bang," the complaint says.
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Another witness statement indicated a "there was a car traveling westbound parallel with him in the eastbound lane." The witness noted "his speeds were 50-55 mph at the time, but the wrong-way vehicle was moving faster than him," the complaint says.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) cameras at I-794 and 2nd Street captured the wreck.
Later, a deputy spoke with the defendant at Froedtert Hospital. The deputy noted an odor of "intoxicants emanating from the defendant's breath. The defendant then stopped answering questions and refused all testing for impairment, and refused to submit to a chemical blood test," the complaint says.
The woman injured in the collision "suffered multiple broken ribs, three broken vertebrae, a fractured tailbone and internal bleeding," the complaint says.
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Sinclair is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Monday, Oct. 28.