MILWAUKEE, WI — A man is facing charges after police said he crashed a Hyundai sedan that was stolen from Mayfair Mall into a light pole near 51st Boulevard and Hampton Avenue on Aug. 16.
The crash happened around 7:30 p.m., just over an hour after the car's owner reported it stolen from a Mayfair Mall parking lot in Wauwatosa, and moments after the car reached nearly 100 mph in a pursuit with police, according to a criminal complaint. Police identified the driver as 18-year-old Quintell S. Collins, of Milwaukee, the complaint said.
Collins now faces charges of fleeing an officer, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, driving a vehicle without consent, and resisting an officer in Milwaukee County Court after that day. If Collins were convicted, the recklessly endangering safety charge alone could carry the heaviest sentence, with a maximum of 10 years.
After the vehicle was reported stolen around 6:15 p.m. that day from the lot at 2500 Mayfair Road, police learned the owner had installed a tracking device, the complaint said. By 6:51 p.m. officers were able to ping the car's location to an area in Milwaukee where officers set up a perimeter, according to the complaint.
Police saw a man enter the car and officers tried to use stop sticks to no avail, so a chase began by 7:29 p.m., the complaint said. As the car fled, police said the driver passed another car in the bike lane and ignored a red light at 51st and Hampton, swerved to the right, lost control and crashed into a light pole.
The damaged light pole fell down as drivers nearby were waiting for their traffic signal, the complaint said. The driver got out of the car and ran away, and police followed and watched as the man jumped into a nearby backyard and took off his sweatshirt, according to the complaint.
Police surrounded the area and officers used a canine officer to find the driver in a garage, the complaint said. He exited the garage and police arrested him, according to the complaint.
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