Deputy told police he didn’t see red light
A Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office deputy told police he never saw the red light he ran before a fatal crash in a downtown intersection in January, according to new charges.
The Jan. 25 crash, at the intersection of North 10th and West State streets, killed 47-year-old Ceasar Stinson, a Milwaukee Public Schools lobbyist and community activist.
Prosecutors on Monday charged the deputy, 50-year-old Joel Streicher, with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. An initial appearance date has not yet been set. Streicher told police he remembered looking at his squad car’s computer screen while driving north on 10th Street, but he does not remember seeing the stoplight at State Street — which, according to a criminal complaint, was red for 11 seconds before the crash.
In January, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was the first to name Streicher and to report he was being investigated for distracted driving. According to the complaint: Streicher told police he was driving north on 10th to take the West Highland Avenue freeway entrance and looked at his computer screen for any new assignments.
To continue straight through the intersection, cars must be in the center lane. Security footage showed Streicher was in the right-turn-only lane, heading straight.
He was traveling steadily at 29 or 30 mph until the moment of impact, according to airbag data, and he did not apply the brakes at all. The red stoplights were fully illuminated for 11 seconds, according to the security footage. Streicher would have been about 500 feet away from the light when it turned red.
Stinson was traveling eastbound on State Street through a green light when Streicher’s squad car hit his pickup truck. It spun then rolled onto the driver’s side, and Stinson was partially ejected from his seat. His head was wedged between the road and the driver’s side door.
A female passenger was pinned sideways in her seat, held in by her seat belt.
An autopsy later determined Stinson suffered multiple complex skull fractures and died from the blunt force trauma of the crash.
In a prior crash two blocks from the January collision, Streicher was also driving in the wrong lane, according to officers who responded to the scene. In 2018, at North 11th Street and the West Highland off-ramp, Streicher was in the left-turn-only lane and continued straight through the intersection, crashing into a car in the center lane headed straight.
Streicher previously sought to prevent the release of his prior disciplinary record. The case is still open.
Last year, Streicher was the subject of media attention when he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge after he was caught up in a prostitution sting. He was ordered to pay a $250 fine after agreeing to a plea deal.
If convicted of the homicide charge, Streicher faces up to 10 years in prison.