West Allis Mother and Two Sons Killed by Driver Fleeing Police

MILWAUKEE — A police pursuit ended in tragedy Tuesday night when a fleeing driver crashed into another car, killing a West Allis mother and her two sons.

Family members identified the victims as 50-year-old Pler Moo, her 15-year-old son, Kar Lah Kri Moo, and her 21-year-old son, Moo Nay Taw. The family was returning home from a soccer game when the crash occurred.

According to Milwaukee police, officers began chasing a stolen Jeep just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Less than a minute later, the Jeep ran a red light and T-boned the vehicle carrying the Moo family.

At the crash site Wednesday, loved ones left flowers and built a small memorial among the broken car parts. Passersby offered condolences, with one woman tearfully telling a grieving relative, “I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope days get better for you. It’s going to be okay.”

Surveillance video captured the stolen Jeep barreling through the red light moments before the fatal collision.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, speaking at City Hall, condemned the reckless actions that led to the tragedy: “They made a choice to drive recklessly, and then they made a further decision to not listen to police commands and pull over. They then hit a vehicle, killing innocent people traveling elsewhere. Their lives are gone because somebody made two terrible decisions.”

The stolen Jeep had been flagged for reckless driving prior to the chase, police said. The crash left two other members of the Moo family hospitalized with serious injuries. Three people inside the fleeing Jeep also suffered less severe injuries.

The driver of the Jeep, a 19-year-old man, was arrested.

The incident adds to a troubling pattern in Milwaukee. So far this year, at least nine people have died in police chase-related crashes — six of them innocent victims.

Milwaukee Police Association President Alex Ayala defended the officers’ decision to pursue: “The person that’s at fault is the person that’s fleeing. Officers are just trying to do their job and bring somebody to justice. They choose to go recklessly, to go to high speed, to ignore the traffic signals — and then other people pay the price for their actions.”