Family members speak out after police chase ends in crash involving uninvolved driver

A police chase that ended in a crash Monday night left one officer and three bystanders seriously injured.

The suspect who was initially pursued by police is still at large.

Eighteen-year-old Sania Ferguson was driving the car that hit the patrol car.

Family members told TMJ4’s Mariam Makkar that police chases do more harm than good.

“Sania actually called me and said, ‘Mom, the police hit me,'” Ferguson’s mother, Epsy Atkins, recalled.

Atkins told TMJ4 that just after 6:30 Monday night, she learned her daughter’s car had been hit by a police car involved in the chase.

A police cruiser collided with the 18-year-old’s vehicle as he drove through an intersection on Sherman Boulevard. and North Avenue before crashing into a bus stop and a fire hydrant.

The man they were chasing managed to escape.

When Atkins and Ferguson’s grandmother, Shada Burks, arrived at Froedtert Hospital, they had one question for the officers present:

“What’s happened?” Burks remembers asking. “He said, ‘We were following and chasing some Audi or other car and we hit your granddaughter.’

Despite not being involved in the pursuit, Ferguson was arrested at the hospital, the Milwaukee Police Department said in a statement.

Her family says it’s because she was driving with a suspended license.

They told TMJ4 they were unable to speak with her because she was still in custody.

“It was very painful because as a mother you have to comfort your child,” Atkins said.

During the ordeal, Ferguson’s loved ones are advocating for an end to police harassment and urging people not to run from police.

“We can advocate for an end to vehicular pursuits and find a safer way to catch criminals or suspected escapees,” Burks said. “And I also want to talk to the people who jumped up and ran – you’re hurting people. Just stop!”

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