Man charged in hit-and-run crash that killed two Milwaukee brothers

A 33-year-old Milwaukee man faces decades in prison after prosecutors say he hit two brothers on West Lincoln Avenue, killing them and fleeing the scene after a night of drinking at a bar.

Luis Perez-Garcia was charged Thursday with four felonies, including two counts of hit-and-run resulting in death and two counts of knowingly operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license resulting in death.

The Milwaukee County Coroner’s Office identified the victims earlier this week as 41-year-old Ausberto Pascual Gutierrez-Ponce and 39-year-old Michael Gutierrez. The brothers’ family could not be reached Thursday.

The collision happened around 2:40 a.m. Sunday in the 1900 block of West Lincoln Avenue.

According to the criminal complaint:

A woman was parking her SUV in the bike lane eastbound on Lincoln Avenue when Perez-Garcia, driving a mid-size SUV, struck one Gutierrez brother, damaging his SUV and then striking the other Gutierrez brother.

The woman said she was at the bar and her neighbor, Ausberto Gutierrez, asked for a ride home. She said the couple drove to the 1900 block of West Lincoln Avenue and she parked in the bike path to let Ausberto Gutierrez out of the SUV.

As Ausberto Gutierrez exited the vehicle, he approached the driver’s side and was met by his brother, Michael Gutierrez, who wanted to talk to him. The woman said as she opened the door to get out and talk, a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed struck the Gutierrez brothers and their vehicle and continued driving.

Officers determined that the vehicle parts that were at the scene after the accident belonged to a Chevrolet Traverse. Surveillance video did not capture the collision, but the video shows the Traverse traveling east on Lincoln Avenue west of the accident scene. Another video shows the Traverse a few blocks east with the passenger side headlight off.

Perez-Garcia was arrested later that day. He admitted causing the collision and leaving the scene. He said he was at a bar and drank eight 12-ounce cans of Modelo beer and ate something. Perez-Garcia said “he was not drunk, but he was excited,” the complaint states.

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