A Wisconsin news crew caught the dramatic moment a reckless driver plowed into a parked minivan and abandoned his teen accomplice, injuring the man who had been sitting in the vehicle.
TMJ4, a local outlet in Milwaukee, was reporting on a fatal shooting in the city’s south side on Sunday when a speeding gray sedan swerved directly into the parked minivan to avoid oncoming traffic, video shows.
The driver, whose age was not disclosed, opened his door and bolted down the street as his passenger crawled out of the mangled mess.
He pleaded for the news crew, who stood a few feet away, and witnesses to “call 911” before a good Samaritan ran over to his aide.
The powerful impact pushed the mini-van into an unmarked Milwaukee Police squad car parked behind it, police told the outlet.
The driver, covering his face with a hooded sweatshirt, then takes a lap back toward the sedan to check on his friend but later fled the scene.
Police said the car was recently stolen when the crash occurred.
A 57-year-old man who was inside the mini-van was transported to hospital, according to the outlet.
The passenger in the stolen car was identified as a 16-year-old boy who was also hospitalized.
Police arrested the teen and will face criminal charges while the driver is still on the loose.
Mariam Mackar, the witness being interviewed by WTMJ about the shooting when the hit-and-run occurred, told the outlet Monday that she’s “never seen something like that before.”
“That car could’ve killed somebody. It ran onto the grass, there were children on the grass,” she told the outlet.
Data gathered by 16 community meetings and released by the Wisconsin Policy Forum shows that car theft is labeled as one of the top reoccurring issues in Milwaukee.
“One of the foremost public safety concerns expressed by session attendees was the incidence of violent crime in the city. In particular, the prevalence of firearms, car thefts, and reckless driving were all primary concerns,” the report reads.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson urged that the community needs to keep shedding light on the issue of car theft and reckless driving to “put a stop” to it from continuing.
“The passenger in that video that you just showed me, he couldn’t even get up, he couldn’t even move,” a bewildered Johnson said.
“He tried to get out of the car and he collapsed. You don’t want that to be your kid or a kid you care about. Let’s have these conversations, and let’s put a stop to this.”