Calob House was walking home after an evening out celebrating his girlfriend's birthday early on October 6, 2021, when a driver fleeing West Allis police struck and killed him near South 21st Street and West National Avenue in Milwaukee. Five years later, the car that hit him has never been recovered, and the driver has never been identified. Now, after sitting on inactive status, the investigation has reopened following a tip that came in October 2025.
According to TMJ4 News, the case had been placed on inactive status in January 2025 before the new tip prompted investigators to take another look. Police have not detailed what that tip contained. House's father, Kevin House, called the long wait for answers both aggravating and heartbreaking, and said identifying the driver could help his son's four children believe that accountability is still possible.
How the Chase Unfolded
The pursuit began when West Allis police tried to stop a driver for reckless driving near South 80th Street and National Avenue. The driver refused to stop, and the chase continued eastbound toward Milwaukee before the fleeing car struck Calob House near South 21st and National. House died at the scene. Officers ended the pursuit and rendered aid to him, but the driver escaped and has never been found, per the same TMJ4 account.
West Allis's pursuit policy requires officers to weigh the seriousness of the offense, road conditions, pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and public-safety risks before continuing a chase. The policy's requirements underscore the tension between catching fleeing drivers and protecting bystanders.
A Father, Carpenter, and Brewers Fan
Calob House was a finish carpenter who was saving money to eventually buy a home for his family, according to the TMJ4 report. He was raising four children, including a stepdaughter named Melanie, and never missed Milwaukee Brewers opening day. On the night he died, he'd chosen to leave his truck behind rather than drive after drinking at a birthday celebration — a decision that put him on foot on National Avenue when the fleeing car came through.
In the years since, House's family has refused to let the case go cold quietly. Relatives have distributed flyers, visited junkyards and scrap yards hunting for the damaged Nissan Altima, and offered their own reward for information, the station notes. Shortly after the crash in 2021, House's brother, Michael House, publicly urged homeowners along National Avenue near 80th Street to re-check home security footage for any sign of the fleeing car, according to FOX6 News Milwaukee.
The Car Investigators Still Want to Find
A detective is now working the case, but investigators have not identified the driver, the vehicle's owner, or recovered the suspect car, per the police response described in the TMJ4 report. Milwaukee and West Allis police have canvassed the area and the pursuit route for surveillance footage. Authorities believe the vehicle is a 2002–2006 Nissan Altima, a four-door sedan that is silver or tan with tinted windows, likely bearing significant passenger-side front-end damage, a missing passenger-side mirror, and a missing right inner fender well. The license plate remains unknown.
Back in October 2021, FOX6 News reported that West Allis–West Milwaukee Crime Stoppers had announced a $2,000 reward for information identifying the same silver or tan Altima missing its passenger mirror. Under Wisconsin Statute § 346.72, auto repair shops and garages statewide are required to keep detailed records of accident-damage repairs — including make, year, registration number, and owner information — and make them accessible to law enforcement, a tool investigators could use if the car ever surfaced at a body shop.
Steep Penalties Await If Driver Is Found
If identified and convicted, the driver would face severe statutory consequences. Under Wisconsin Statute § 346.17(3)(d), fleeing a police officer resulting in death is a Class D felony, and since 2023 Wisconsin Act 226 took effect in March 2024, state law mandates a minimum initial prison confinement of 30 months upon conviction. Separately, under Wisconsin Statute § 346.74(5)(d), knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal crash is itself a Class D felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, fines up to $100,000, and a mandatory five-year license revocation.
Wisconsin's pursuit risks extend well beyond this one case. An April 2025 study analyzing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2018 to 2022, reported by OnFocus News, ranked Wisconsin sixth highest in the nation for fatal police pursuit crash rates, 84% above the national average. Fatal crashes remain part of Wisconsin's statewide road-safety picture.
Milwaukee has made some progress on the broader reckless-driving crisis that shaped this case. Traffic fatalities in the city fell 26%, from a peak of 77 in 2022 to 57 in 2025, following the rollout of the city's Vision Zero initiative, according to Urban Milwaukee. West Allis, for its part, was where the pursuit that led to House's death began.
None of that has brought House's family the one answer they want. No suspect has been publicly identified, no arrest has been announced, and the vehicle believed to be a Nissan Altima has never been recovered. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Milwaukee Police Department at 414-935-7360 or West Allis–West Milwaukee Crime Stoppers anonymously at 414-476-CASH.
