A La Crosse man is headed to state prison after a Milwaukee crash that killed one person and seriously injured another near 35th Street and Park Hill Avenue. On Thursday, 59-year-old Paul Hobbs was sentenced to three years behind bars after pleading guilty in November 2025 to charges tied to the Oct. 29, 2023 collision. The judge also ordered 10 years of extended supervision once Hobbs is released.
The crash and charges
According to FOX6 Milwaukee, Hobbs was driving a white Chrysler minivan west on I-94 when he took the 35th Street exit, lost control, cut through a gas station parking lot and slammed into a black 2017 Chevrolet Malibu that was stopped in traffic. The Malibu’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and a passenger suffered serious injuries, prosecutors said.
What investigators say
Investigators pulled surveillance footage from the nearby gas station that, according to court filings, showed a white vehicle flying through the lot at a high rate of speed. The criminal complaint states Hobbs admitted to officers that he was driving the minivan but initially claimed another vehicle, described as a silver Mazda, had pushed him into the crash.
Guilty plea and sentence
Hobbs ultimately pleaded guilty to felony second-degree reckless homicide and felony second-degree reckless injury. On Thursday, the court handed down a three-year prison term, to be followed by 10 years of extended supervision, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Local reporting and court records indicate prosecutors leaned heavily on the surveillance video and the criminal complaint in negotiating the plea and recommending the sentence.
How this fits locally
Fatal-driving sentences in the region are all over the map. In one recent case, a Waukesha man received seven years in prison for a deadly hit-and-run, a reminder that the specific facts and plea deals in each case matter a lot. That case, reported by TMJ4, highlighted how judges often weigh whether a driver fled the scene and other aggravating details when deciding on a sentence.
Court records in Hobbs’ case are available through Wisconsin’s public court access system and were cited in local coverage. This story will be updated if prosecutors, defense attorneys or Milwaukee police release additional public statements or filings.
