Milwaukee police chase, crash involving bus; man charged
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man is charged with several felonies after prosecutors said he fled police and caused a crash involving a bus on the city's far northwest side in April.
In court:
Court records show 23-year-old Phillip Brookshire made his initial appearance on April 30, and a commissioner set his cash bond at $50,000. His charges include fleeing police, hit-and-run and first-degree reckless injury.
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Chase and crash
The backstory:
According to a criminal complaint, police were searching for a homicide suspect when a standoff ensued near 84th and Mill on April 25. During the standoff, a person arrived in a white Dodge Challenger and told officers the suspect wasn't there – but agreed to pick up the suspect and bring him to the scene.
The Dodge later returned and parked a block away, where court filings said the person who said she'd bring the suspect to the scene got out of the car and told officers that the suspect was in the car. Police said the driver had his hood up but matched the suspect's description and was the only person in the car.
Crash at Lovers Lane and Silver Spring
Prosecutors said the driver, later identified as Brookshire, was not the homicide suspect. However, he started to drive down Mill Road and then took off when an officer tried to pull the car over.
The chase stretched more than three miles at speeds topping 100 mph until Brookshire ran a red light and crashed at Lovers Lane and Silver Spring, where he got out and ran. He hit a Milwaukee County Transit System bus and an SUV, causing "significant damage" to both vehicles, according to the complaint.
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Court filings said officers chased after Brookshire, and he was tased and taken into custody near the crash scene. It wasn't until Brookshire was in custody that officers determined he was not the homicide suspect. He refused to identify himself, but police used a portable fingerprint scanner to confirm who he was.
The driver of the SUV was taken to a hospital with broken ribs and a fractured vertebra, a passenger was taken to Children's Wisconsin to get stitches and a third passenger was not hurt. The bus driver went to a hospital with back, neck and shoulder pain.
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The Source: Information in this story is from the Milwaukee Police Department, Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.