A Milwaukee police chase ended in a violent crash onto a sidewalk near 35th and Hadley Streets Saturday evening, leaving at least two people hospitalized and, according to the injured man's brother, costing a bystander his leg. The wreck happened around 6:45 p.m. near a corner store, where viewer video captured the chase's final, chaotic seconds.
The footage, obtained by WISN 12 News, shows police chasing a car moments before it crashed onto the sidewalk, leaving two damaged vehicles visible near the store. The Milwaukee Fire Department was dispatched around 6:46 p.m. and took at least two people to the hospital. The man's brother told the station that an innocent bystander lost his leg in the crash. As of Sunday, the station reported it had not heard back from the Milwaukee Police Department about further crash details or the victims' conditions, and said the story remains developing.
A Corridor With a History of Violent Chases
A Corridor With a History of Violent Chases Saturday's wreck is not the first pursuit crash along Hadley Street. Just three days earlier, on October 14, a pursuit that began near West Hadley Street and North 58th Street ended ten blocks away near 48th and Hadley when the suspect vehicle slammed into a tree, according to prior Hoodline reporting. And in July, the intersection of West 35th Street and West Hadley Street — the same corner involved in Saturday's crash — saw a fleeing driver plow into multiple occupied vehicles and destroy a light pole, per the Milwaukee Crime Report.
Those back-to-back incidents point to a cluster of pursuit crashes concentrated along the Hadley corridor, even as the department has worked to limit when officers are allowed to give chase at all. Under revisions to Milwaukee Police Department Standard Operating Procedure 660 that took effect in February, officers are barred from initiating a pursuit based solely on a driver's excessive speed, according to FOX6 News Milwaukee.
Citywide Numbers Show Fewer Chases, Still-Deadly Crashes
The policy change followed troubling annual figures. MPD officers conducted 970 vehicle pursuits in 2025, which resulted in 321 crashes and nine fatalities — six of them innocent third parties — according to data presented to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, reported by the Wisconsin Justice Initiative. Mid-year statistics for the first half of 2026 showed some improvement, with a 24% drop in total pursuits compared to the same period in 2025 and zero recorded pursuit-related fatalities during that span, per WTMJ.
Even so, Wisconsin's broader pursuit record remains troubling. An April 2025 study analyzing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2018 through 2022 ranked Wisconsin sixth highest in the nation for fatal police pursuit crash rates, measuring 84% above the national average. For a driver who flees, the legal stakes are steep: under Wisconsin Statute § 346.17(3), knowingly fleeing an officer after a signal to stop is a Class H felony; if the pursuit causes property damage or bodily harm, the offense can rise to a Class G felony.
Oversight Clashes With Police Leadership Over Further Restrictions
The debate over how far to limit pursuits has turned political. In July, Milwaukee's Common Council declined to vote on Fire and Police Commission recommendations that would have banned officers from starting pursuits over reckless driving observed after an attempted stop, leaving city leaders and police brass divided over whether tighter rules protect bystanders or embolden fleeing drivers.
Meanwhile, the human cost continues to generate litigation against the city. In September, the family of a rideshare driver killed in a July 2025 chase collision filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Milwaukee and the officers involved, arguing they negligently continued a high-speed chase through city streets. That followed a February federal lawsuit filed by the mother of a bystander killed in a 2024 pursuit crash, which claims the department's chase practices create a state-created danger for innocent pedestrians and drivers — a suit naming both the city and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
Saturday's crash near 35th and Hadley adds another entry to that toll, with the bystander's injury reportedly including the loss of a leg, according to his brother. Police have not yet released details on what prompted the chase, the identities of those involved, or the current condition of the two people hospitalized.
