Juan Espino-Esparza, Orlando Hernandez
MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee men are accused of leading police on a two-and-a-half mile chase before crashing on the city's south side. The accused are Juan Espino-Esparza, 23, and Orlando Hernandez, 19 – and they face the following criminal counts:
- Vehicle operator flee/elude officer causing damage to property (Espino-Esparza)
- First-degree recklessly endangering safety (Espino-Esparza)
- Possession with intent to deliver controlled substance-THC (Hernandez)
- Sell/possess/use/transport machine gun (Hernandez)
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were on duty near 12th and Becher on Wednesday, March 20 when they noticed an SUV with illegal window tint. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle, but the SUV accelerated away. The complaint says officers chased the SUV for two-and-a-half miles "where the Jeep reached speeds of 50 mph on residential streets, disregarding multiple stop signs, traffic signals and endangered the safety of others."
The police chase ended when the SUV shot through a stop sign and struck an occupied vehicle, the complaint says. The person in the vehicle that was struck was hospitalized, complaining of pain.
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The complaint says Espino-Esparza was in the driver's seat of the SUV and taken into custody.
Hernandez was seen "running from the rear driver's side of the vehicle carrying a backpack," the complaint says. He discarded the backpack over a fence. Officers recovered the backpack and recovered a pistol "equipped with a fire rate selector switch with a fully automatic option," a large mason jar containing material that tested positive for THC, a digital scale and a box of sandwich bags.
Espino-Esparza and Hernandez made their initial appearances in Milwaukee County court on Monday, March 25. Cash bond for Espino-Esparza was set at $3,500. A signature bond of $2,500 was set by the court for Hernandez.