A police chase that ended in a crash Monday evening severely injured one officer and three uninvolved individuals.
The suspect police were initially pursuing is still at large.
Eighteen-year-old Sania Ferguson was driving the car that was struck by the officer's squad vehicle.
Family members told TMJ4's Mariam Mackar that police chases do more harm than good.
"Sania actually called me, and she was like, 'Mama, the police hit me,'" recalled Ferguson's mother, Epsie Atkins.
Atkins told TMJ4 that just after 6:30 Monday night, she learned her daughter's car was hit by a police vehicle involved in a chase.
The squad car collided with the 18-year-old's car as it traveled through the intersection at Sherman Blvd. and North Ave., before crashing into a bus shelter and a fire hydrant.
The person 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 happened?" Burks remembers asking. "He said, 'We were in a pursuit and were chasing some kind of Audi or other car, and we T-boned your granddaughter.'"
In a statement, the Milwaukee Police Department said that despite being uninvolved in the pursuit, Ferguson was arrested at the hospital.
Her family says it’s because she was driving on a suspended permit.
They tell TMJ4 they haven’t been able to speak to her, as she is still detained.
"It hurt so bad because, as a mother, you're supposed to comfort your child," Atkins said.
The ordeal has Ferguson's loved ones advocating for an end to police chases and encouraging people not to flee from police.
"We can be an advocate for putting a stop to chasing vehicles and finding a safer way to get criminals or intended people who want to run," said Burks. "And I also want to talk to people that up and run—you're hurting people. Just stop!"
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