A 74-year-old driver was seriously injured Tuesday night after a fleeing vehicle slammed into their car during a Milwaukee police pursuit that ended at West Capitol Drive and North 35th Street. The 32-year-old driver of the fleeing vehicle was taken into custody and also hospitalized, and police say that suspect already has multiple open felony cases with local law enforcement agencies.
According to TMJ4 News, officers spotted a vehicle driving recklessly near the 4000 block of West Villard Avenue around 9:47 p.m. on Nov. 3. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, its driver refused to pull over, prompting a pursuit that ended in a crash at West Capitol Drive and North 35th Street.
The 74-year-old driver of the struck vehicle suffered serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, the outlet reported. The fleeing driver, 32, was also transported to a hospital after being taken into custody. Police have not detailed the nature or severity of that driver's injuries.
Suspect's Record and What Comes Next
Police said the 32-year-old suspect already has multiple open felony cases pending with local law enforcement agencies, though the outlet did not specify what those cases involve. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office will now review Tuesday night's crash for possible criminal charges, and the investigation remains ongoing, per the same report.
A Deadly Stretch for Milwaukee Pursuits
Tuesday's crash came just two days after a pursuit-related collision killed an 18-year-old driver on Milwaukee's south side. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the teenage driver of the struck vehicle died at the scene on Nov. 1, while the 36-year-old driver of the fleeing vehicle was arrested after being hospitalized and a 28-year-old passenger suffered serious injuries. That report counted at least four pursuit-related fatalities across Milwaukee so far in 2026, a toll that includes three deaths within a two-day stretch in October.
The Journal Sentinel noted that Milwaukee police data showed zero pursuit-related fatalities in the first six months of 2026, a sharp contrast to the deadly fall the city has since experienced. Nine people died in pursuit-related crashes across Milwaukee in 2025, and six of them were third parties who had no involvement in the underlying chase, according to the same report.
Other Recent Crashes Raise Fresh Questions
TMJ4 has separately documented four serious crashes tied to drivers fleeing police or attempted traffic stops in the Milwaukee area within less than a week, leaving three people dead. In one of those incidents, a vehicle fleeing police crashed into a pole, killing passenger Kathy Yvette Thomas, 50. Another crash described in that report followed a pursuit that began as a traffic stop over a registration violation and ultimately involved two pedestrians, including a 40-year-old who suffered serious injuries.
A 2019 pursuit reported by WISN lasted roughly two miles before the fleeing vehicle crashed into the back of another car, pushing it into a parked vehicle and injuring two children.
What the Pursuit Numbers Show
Citywide data released by WTMJ shows Milwaukee police pursuits fell 24% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, even as drug-related pursuit incidents rose 25%. Pursuits terminated by officers themselves dropped 35%, and pursuits ending with a suspect escaping fell 23% during that window. No pursuit-related fatalities occurred in the first six months of the year.
The broader trend line has worried observers for years. Milwaukee police logged 1,028 pursuits in 2022, up dramatically from just 50 in 2012, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. The 2021 total, 1,078 pursuits, was the highest annual figure since at least 2002, the outlet reported.
