RACINE, Wis. — TMJ4 has obtained new video from police body cameras, dash cameras, and surveillance footage of the August 7 crash into Racine City Hall.
The man who crashed was driving a red Dodge Charger and blew a stop sign in a neighborhood right in front of two Racine police officers. That moment was caught on camera, as well as the moments after.
Police tried to pull the man over and seconds later received a radio call saying he had crashed into city hall.
Dash camera video shows officers out on a call when the red Dodge Charger flies by. You can see officers in the video running to their cars attempting to follow the Charger.
"I'm trying to catch up with a reckless driver. Ryan, he's going north on Center. Red Dodge Charger, older model," an officer said over his radio.
Within seconds, police lose sight of the Charger. Nearly a minute later, they learn about the crash.
"He just smashed into city hall," a dispatcher said.
Surveillance video from Racine's Police Department caught the crash on camera. You can also see one officer dart across the parking lot to the crash. Another officer's dash camera footage shows that officer running to help the driver.
"A.O.2 to dispatch. She says male's not responsive and trapped," an officer said to dispatch.
"Copy and trapped, we've got them dispatched," the dispatcher answered.
With the driver trapped in the car, officers were forced to wait for Racine firefighters.
"Stay with us, buddy. You've got rescue coming. Ambulance is coming," another officer said to the driver.
Police body camera shows the Charger crashed into city hall at 5:55 p.m. with officers on scene in seconds. About four minutes later, fire and paramedics arrive.
For the next 14 minutes, firefighters are seen using the jaws of life to cut off the car doors and roof, eventually removing the driver.
"All the way back rescue wants. Rescue wants them like to that sidewalk cause it's real bad," an officer tells others as firefighters remove the driver from the car.
Minutes later, firefighters and paramedics took the driver to the ambulance and then to the hospital. However, as police were waiting for fire's initial response, officers recalled the events that led up to the crash.
"So we're on that call on Villa Street. We're standing by our squads talking, he runs the stop sign at 10th and Villa, Ryan tries to tell him to stop, he almost hits Ryan, we try and catch up to him to make a traffic stop, and he's just hauling a** away from us," one officer recalled.
"I was standing outside our doors and he was doing about 110mph right into city hall," another officer said.
Aerial video shows just how mangled the Charger was from the crash. The roof is gone because fire removed it.
Racine Police told TMJ4 the driver suffered catastrophic injuries. He is currently in a rehab facility. We're also told charges are pending based on his recovery.
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