Officer struck by driver faces long recovery
A Milwaukee police officer faces months of rehabilitation after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on the city’s north side, police said Tuesday.
Alberto Figueroa, 26, remained hospitalized Tuesday. His condition was stable, and his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, said Nick DeSiato, chief of staff for Police Chief Alfonso Morales.
Figueroa, who was in a one-officer squad, was struck shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday while conducting a traffic stop in the 2400 block of West Capitol Drive, where he had pulled over a vehicle for an equipment violation, DeSiato said.
The officer was struck by one of two speeding vehicles, the occupants of which are believed to be known to each other, he said.
“They might have been racing or joy riding, but we definitely believe they were associated with each other,” DeSiato said.
The two westbound vehicles continued for several blocks before one struck another vehicle. Several people who police believe fled from the vehicle that crashed were arrested a short time later, but police were still searching for the vehicle and driver who struck the officer, DeSiato said.
After Figueroa was struck, the occupants of the vehicle he pulled over immediately jumped out, pulled him off the roadway, began life-saving procedures and dialed 911, DeSiato said. “Thank God these individuals responded as quickly as they did,” he said. “They very well may have saved his life.”
Figueroa, who was hired as a police aide in July 2010 and became a police officer in August 2013, is normally a motorcycle patrol officer with the department’s Specialized Patrol Division.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Milwaukee Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau at (414) 935-7360.