Milwaukee intersection sees two car crashes in six hours; one dead, three injured
One person is dead
By Emily Pofahl
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — One person is dead, and three people are injured after two crashes within six hours at a Milwaukee intersection. According to Milwaukee police, drivers blowing through red lights caused both crashes.
Neighbors living and working around Sherman Boulevard and Villard Avenue said the intersection has been a hot spot for crashes and reckless driving.
The first crash at Sherman and Villard happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Investigators say a driver ran a red light, then slammed into another car with a 55-year-old and 11-year-old inside. The 55-year-old died from their injuries, and crews took the 11-year-old to a hospital.
Surveillance video from a nearby laundromat shows smoke billowing into the air at the impact.
Charges in the crash are pending review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
Just hours later, at around 10 p.m., Milwaukee police said a 26-year-old driver ran a red light and hit another car. Crews took the 26-year-old to the hospital for injuries, according to MPD.
The same laundromat surveillance camera caught the second crash. It shows the driver blowing through the red light and ramming into another car.
“Obama High School is down the street, and that’s always a concern with kids walking to school in the morning,” said Sean O’Byrne, owner of Suds Your Duds Coin Laundry, which caught Tuesday’s crashes on camera.
O’Byrne said since the laundromat opened 12 years ago, he remembers the intersection having a history of serious crashes.
“It’s been a very dangerous intersection. There are constantly accidents. Either people running red lights or there’s accidents all the time,” O’Byrne said.
Data from Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation and the University of Wisconsin’s Community Maps shows at least 20 crashes in the intersection between February 2023 to February 2024.
Seven of those crashes resulted in injuries.
Neighbors said their fear of the intersection limits their mobility in the area.
“I avoid that intersection at all costs,” one neighbor living near the intersection, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Neighbors are asking drivers to slow down and obey traffic laws.
“Think of it as, it would be your mother, your grandmother, your grandfather,” one neighbor said.
Some people living in the area asked for speed bumps, and others asked for more police patrols in the intersection.
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