2/4/26 Wauwatosa, WI – Domestic Violence – Man Failed To Stop – Pinned In With Squad Cars – Steals A Wauwatosa Squad Car – Reversed And Injures Police On Scene – Police Chase And Crashed Into Another Squad Car – Runs From Scene And Captured – 4 Officers Taken To Hospital

February 4, 2026

www.jsonline.com

A 26-year-old man was arrested after stealing a Wauwatosa Police Department squad car during a police chase, injuring four Wauwatosa police officers, crashing the car and fleeing on foot Feb. 3, according to the police department.

“A law-breaking and violent offender decided to flee from police, resist arrest, and take a squad car, all to prevent being held accountable for his actions,” Wauwatosa Police Chief James MacGillis said in a Feb. 3 news release.

According to the department’s release:

The incident started around 10:05 a.m. at Mayfair Mall, 2500 N. Mayfair Road, when a 26-year-old man was directed by mall security at least twice to leave the property.

A Wauwatosa police officer on patrol in the mall’s parking lot observed the man return to a white minivan parked in the lot.

The officer checked the license plate and learned the vehicle had been involved in a domestic violence incident earlier that morning with the Oak Creek Police Department in addition to a separate Brown Deer Police Department vehicle pursuit.

As the man drove out of the lot, the officer attempted a traffic stop, but the driver fled north on Mayfair Road to the 3100 block. There, the man drove over the median, made a U-turn and drove south before continuing west on West North Avenue.

As he neared North 116th Street, the man slowed his minivan, and more police squads tried to contain the vehicle. The man hopped out of his minivan, ran toward an empty Wauwatosa police squad car and got in as officers tried to arrest him.

Now inside the squad car, the man reversed the car and accelerated, striking several officers and an occupied Wauwatosa police squad car in the process.

That began a second pursuit as the man drove the stolen squad car west on West North Avenue into the City of Brookfield. He drove the squad through side streets and yards before he crashed into another Wauwatosa squad car near West North Avenue and San Fernando Drive.

The man fled on foot but was quickly taken into custody. He was taken to the hospital out of precaution. Four Wauwatosa police officers were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident is under investigation primarily by the Wauwatosa Police Department with assistance from the Brookfield Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol.

The earlier domestic violence incident reported in Oak Creek and vehicle pursuit in Brown Deer remain under review. Referrals for criminal charges in all cases were pending as of Feb. 3, according to police.

The police department said the 26-year-old man had multiple felony and misdemeanor warrants through the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office and a municipal warrant through the West Allis Police Department.

According to the Wauwatosa Police Department, the department will do an internal review of the incident and what allowed the suspect to enter and steal a police car.

City of Brookfield Police Chief Chris Garcia told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he’s proud of Brookfield and Wauwatosa’s police officers for the work they do and the partnership they have.

“They help us, we help them,” he said. “We have an outstanding working relationship.”