25-year-old Milwaukee woman charged after police pursuit, crash
MILWAUKEE - A 25-year-old Milwaukee woman faces multiple charges for allegedly leading police on a high-speed pursuit -- and then causing a crash earlier this month. The accused is Na'Stalgia Packer-Wells.
Packer-Wells faces the following criminal counts:
- Vehicle operator flee/elude police officer causing damage to property
- First degree recklessly endangering safety (two counts)
According to the criminal complaint, officers were in an unmarked squad near 27th and Vliet in Milwaukee on Aug. 19 when they "heard squealing tires." One officer saw "a black car approaching at a high rate of speed and the car was fishtailing, trying to stop before it hit the squad."
Na'Stalgia Packer-Wells
The complaint says the driver, later identified as Packer-Wells, "passed the squad on the right and turned right onto N. 27th Street without stopping for the red light." The officers pulled over the driver a short time later -- near 28th and McKinley Boulevard.
When an officer approached the car, Packer-Wells "asked him why he was following her and harassing her," the complaint says. At that point, the officer indicated he was going to issue her traffic citations. When the officer began to walk back to his squad, the complaint says Packer-Wells drove off -- and the officers pursued with emergency lights and siren activated.
The complaint indicates a pursuit of Packer-Wells lasted more than six miles on city streets and the interstate -- and reached speeds of more than 90 miles an hour. It ended when Packer-Wells went through a red light and struck another vehicle. The complaint says officers "observed both cars crash and spin violently out of control knocking down street signs and traffic lights." Police placed Packer-Wells into custody at that point.
A woman and her two-month-old baby were in the other vehicle that was struck, the complaint says. The woman suffered pain, swelling, and abrasions as a result of the crash.
Packer-Wells made her initial appearance in court on Friday, Aug. 21. Cash bond was set at $3,500. Packer-Wells is doing back in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 28.