Milwaukee stolen car chaos; 22-year-old suspect arrested at hospital
Lavontae Williams
MILWAUKEE - A 22-year-old Milwaukee man is now charged in connection with a stolen car incident that unfolded at the intersection of Capitol and Teutonia. The accused is Lavontae Williams – and he faces the following criminal counts:
- First-degree recklessly endangering safety (two counts)
- Drive or operate a vehicle without owner's consent
- Bail jumping (misdemeanor)
Car stolen from grocery store
What we know:
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 to a grocery store near 56th and Capitol to investigate a stolen auto complaint. When officers arrived on the scene, they were unable to locate the victim and were told by dispatch that the victim was attempting to track her stolen vehicle.
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A little more than an hour later, officers were sent to Capitol and Teutonia to investigate a battery complaint. This time, officers found a gray car facing westbound in the eastbound lane of travel. The vehicle "had severe damage to the front end and a female was seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle," the complaint says. The woman in the car was later identified as the victim in this case.
Victim interviewed
What they're saying:
Police interviewed the victim. She indicated she was employed by Instacart, and had been at the grocery store with her boyfriend. When the pair went inside the store, the complaint says they left the car "running and parked in the grocery store parking lot." When the two came out of the store, the vehicle was missing. The victim told police there was an Apple AirTag in the car, and she was able to track its location. She indicated the located the vehicle stopped at a red traffic signal at Capitol and Teutonia.
The woman and her boyfriend went to the intersection with the intent of recovering the vehicle. The court filing says when they got to the intersection, the woman opened the driver's side door and the boyfriend went to the passenger side of the vehicle. The complaint says "the male suspect began to struggle with (the woman) during which she was holding onto the steering wheel of the vehicle," the complaint says. The woman told police the male suspect "stepped onto the gas pedal which caused the vehicle to drive in circles in the middle of the street," the court filing says. The vehicle repeatedly struck a Milwaukee County Transit System bus which was stopped at the intersection. The woman told police she and her boyfriend were eventually able to "get the vehicle stopped and remove the male suspect from the vehicle," the complaint says. There was a brief altercation between the suspect and the woman's boyfriend, before the suspect fled the scene on foot.
Police interviewed the boyfriend. He "stated that during his struggle with the male suspect, he reached into the male suspect's pocket and removed the suspect's ID card," the complaint says. That ID card was provided to police and identified the suspect as the defendant, Lavontae Williams.
Suspect located
Dig deeper:
On Wednesday, March 4, police were dispatched to Aurora Sinai Medical Center for a battery complaint. A nurse told police "he had observed an Instagram video of a person doing circles in a car dragging two people. (The nurse) stated that the person who was doing the circles had walked into Sinai Hospital on that date stating that he was assaulted," the complaint says. The nurse indicated the person who walked into the hospital "was wearing the same exact clothes as we were in the video," the complaint says.
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When the officer went to the hospital room where the individual was located, he positively identified that person as the defendant, Lavontae Williams. He was "wearing the same clothing" as seen in the Instagram video.
Court appearance
What's next:
Williams made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Monday, March 9. Cash bond was set at $1,500.
Williams is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 16.
Milwaukee stolen car chaos; confrontation ends in crashes
Video circulating online shows a stolen car crashing near Capitol Drive and Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee after police say the vehicle’s owners confronted the suspected thief, who ran from the scene.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the criminal complaint associated with this case and previous FOX6 News coverage.