A 21-year-old Milwaukee man remains on the run months after allegedly carjacking two people at gunpoint in a single night, threatening to kill one victim and pointing a weapon at a woman and child outside a busy North Side market. U.S. Marshals say Qua'Ron Patton, known on the street as “Lil Ron,” is believed to still be hiding out on Milwaukee's North Side, and they're asking the public for help finding him.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, Patton is wanted for two armed carjackings that U.S. Marshals say occurred in November 2025, just months after he was released from prison in September of that year. Investigators told the station Patton committed the carjackings because he needed fast cash, and that he had asked an old prison buddy, identified as Caleel Brown, to help him get it.
The first carjacking allegedly happened when Patton and Brown approached a woman unloading her trunk near Hmong Town Market, a sprawling commercial hub at Appleton and Hampton avenues on Milwaukee's Northwest side. Per the station's report, Patton pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman and a child who were entering the market, and the pair drove off in her Mazda after the woman threw her keys at Patton.
A Second Victim Threatened at Gunpoint
Later the same night, on Milwaukee's East Side, Patton and Brown allegedly approached a different woman and pulled out a gun during a second carjacking. The same account states that Patton threatened to kill the second victim before he and Brown took her keys. The pair reportedly ditched the stolen Volvo at a nearby Wendy's before continuing on with the Mazda.
Police charged both Patton and Brown with armed robbery in connection with the carjackings. Brown has since pleaded guilty, according to the report, leaving Patton as the sole remaining fugitive in the case. U.S. Marshals believe Patton knows he is wanted, and one marshal described him as a huge risk and danger to the community, urging him to turn himself in.
A Familiar Face to Milwaukee Police
Court records reviewed by FOX6 News Milwaukee show this isn't Patton's first brush with the law. Back in April 2023, when Patton was 18, he was charged in Milwaukee County with possession of a firearm by a felon after telling police he hid a handgun in a Citgo gas station bathroom following a shootout tied to a stolen vehicle that had been tracked from Menomonee Falls. That earlier case began when an ALDI employee's car was stolen and traced to Milwaukee via a phone app, establishing that Patton was already a convicted felon before his more recent release from prison.
Patton is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 141 pounds. The U.S. Marshals Service Eastern District of Wisconsin Fugitive Task Force, which partners with the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to track high-risk fugitives across 28 eastern Wisconsin counties, is leading the search. The district's headquarters sits inside the United States Federal Building and Courthouse on East Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee.
Legal Exposure if Caught
If captured, Patton would face prosecution under Wisconsin's carjacking statute, Wis. Stat. § 943.231, which was elevated from a Class C to a Class B felony under 2023 Wisconsin Act 10, according to the Van Severen Law Office. Taking a vehicle by force or threat of force while armed with a dangerous weapon now carries a maximum penalty of up to 60 years in prison, per Justia Law's summary of the statute — among the harshest non-homicide penalties on the books in Wisconsin.
Patton would also be entering a Milwaukee County court system that is charging felony cases at its highest rate in more than a decade, District Attorney Kent Lovern said in July, as reported by CBS 58. Prosecutors have pointed to a 98% homicide clearance rate by Milwaukee police as evidence of that aggressive enforcement posture.
Carjackings Down Citywide, But Fugitive Remains at Large
Patton's case unfolds against a backdrop of falling carjacking numbers across Milwaukee. The station's report notes that carjacking incidents in the city dropped 31% year-to-date through July compared to the same period in 2025, alongside an 8% overall drop in crime citywide. Separately, FOX6 News Milwaukee reported that carjackings fell 40% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, down to 44 recorded incidents from 73 during the same stretch in 2025, with city officials crediting targeted law enforcement and community intervention efforts.
Still, Milwaukee's underlying violence problem looms large: the city recorded 141 homicides in 2025, giving it a homicide rate more than 14 times higher than the rest of Wisconsin combined, according to the Badger Institute. Homicides elsewhere in the state actually fell 26% between 2024 and 2025, sharpening the contrast with Milwaukee's numbers even as citywide crime trends improve.
Hoodline has previously covered a Milwaukee carjacking manhunt for a different teenage fugitive earlier this year, part of a string of armed carjacking cases across the metro area, including incidents in Brookfield and West Allis. Anyone with information on Patton's whereabouts is asked to call the U.S. Marshals tip line at 414-297-3707; tipsters will remain anonymous.
