Milwaukee teen pleads guilty to robbery that touched off I-43 police chase, shooting
A teen who was among those charged with leading police in a chase on Interstate 43 that ended with Milwaukee officers shooting two other teens now admits to his role in the crime.
Tyrone Rogers, 17, pleaded guilty Monday to armed robbery, attempted armed robbery as a party to a crime, first-degree reckless endangering safety and driving or operating a vehicle without an owner's consent.
The charges stemmed from a June 20 robbery and police chase that ended with two teens shot by an officer. One of the teens was pregnant.
Rogers appeared before Circuit Court Judge Jorge Fragoso on Monday for three cases connected to the incident. Fragoso accepted Rogers' pleas, and will sentence him on Dec. 12.
Prosecutors are recommending Rogers be sentenced to nine years in prison and eight years of extended supervision, according to an Oct. 28 plea questionnaire.
Three other people who were charged in the case have upcoming court dates
Also charged were Calveyon Jeans, the driver, and his pregnant girlfriend, Ashley Patterson, a passenger. Both were shot by police in a construction zone after being blocked by a cement truck following the pursuit.
Jeans was 17 and Patterson was 18 at the time of the incident.
Patterson was six months pregnant. She suffered life-threatening injuries that ended her pregnancy.
A preliminary hearing for Patterson is scheduled for Dec. 4. Jeans has a status hearing on Dec. 19.
Another passenger in the car, Semira Dean, 18, also faces charges of armed robbery, as party to a crime, and operating a vehicle without owner's consent, knowing passenger, as well as other charges. She is expected to appear in court Nov. 22 for a status conference.
Two other teens, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, also were arrested at the scene. They were not charged in adult court; their names were not released in court documents.
Here's what prosecutors say happened
According to a criminal complaint, on June 20 a visitor from out of state was operating a rental compact car in a parking lot in the 500 block of North Broadway downtown when she was approached by three teens shortly after noon.
Police believe Rogers was one of them, and that he was accompanied by the two unnamed juveniles. The woman told investigators the teens were driving a white Chevrolet Trax and were armed.
They demanded her keys and grabbed at her hand, but she managed to fight them off, get back into the Chevrolet and drive away.
Roughly a half hour later, another person, who also was visiting Milwaukee, was approached by the two unnamed juveniles about two blocks from where the first crime occurred.
The man told police he was operating a rented SUV in the 400 block of East Clybourne when a young female knocked on his window and began asking about restaurants, according to the complaint. The man said he began looking up restaurants on his phone when a young male stuck a gun inside the vehicle.
The teens demanded the man out of the vehicle and then the male and female suspects drove away in the vehicle. According to the complaint, Dean, Jeans, Patterson and Rogers monitored the robbery nearby in the Chevrolet.
Police said the Chevrolet Trax was stolen by two teens on June 8 parked outside of the McDonald's at 420 E. Capitol Drive. Also, in September, a Waukesha County sheriff's deputy had his personal compact car stolen while parked on the 1400 block of East Brady Street on the east side, the complaint states.
Inside the vehicle were the deputy's duty weapon and personal weapon. When police recovered the vehicle in January the duty weapon was missing, the complaint states. Jeans later admitted he, Dean and another unnamed teen stole the firearm in September.
The pursuit wound its way through crowded streets in the middle of the afternoon
According to the complaint, a uniformed patrol officer spotted the Chevrolet Trax near North 17th Street and West Vliet Avenue around 2:30 p.m. June 20.
The officer turned on his squad lights to conduct a traffic stop. The vehicle pulled over momentarily, then sped away northbound on 17th Street, according to the complaint.
The chase continued for several miles at high speed through heavy traffic. At times, the driver drove the wrong way down streets and almost struck a pedestrian, according to the complaint.
The fleeing Chevy then made its way on to I-43, where the driver weaved in and out of traffic and passed vehicles on the shoulder.
The Chevy came to a construction lane near Burleigh Street until it hit a cement truck, then backed into the pursuing squad car, the complaint states.
Officers, who were by now out of their squad cars with guns draw, ordered everyone out of the Chevy. The driver drove it forward, then hit reverse toward one officer as construction workers ran from the scene.
An officer fired at the vehicle, and it came to a stop. All of the teens were then removed from the vehicle.
According to the complaint, a gun found inside the vehicle belonged to the Waukesha sheriff's deputy from the prior vehicle theft.
