El Moctar Sidiya Was Killed After a Milwaukee Police Pursuit. Where Do the Civil Suit and the Criminal Case Stand?

The pursuit

Milwaukee police said officers saw a car driving recklessly on North Teutonia Avenue around 9:22 p.m. on July 29, 2025. They tried to stop it on West Center Street, and the driver fled. Read the police statement.

The criminal complaint says the attempted stop was for speeding. It says Wilkerson nearly hit a pedestrian near Center Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive before heading south on Humboldt Avenue. FOX6 and CBS 58 covered the complaint.

Officers estimated speeds of about 88 mph in a 25 mph residential area, according to FOX6. Vehicle data put the car at 62 mph and 73% throttle at the last reading before the airbags deployed. The filings say the driver did not brake in the five seconds before impact.

Police say Wilkerson ran a red light while pursued at high speed. The September 2026 TMJ4 story said the collision was at Brady and Humboldt and that Sidiya was killed there.

Who was in the Lyft

“A 28-year-old driver of Unit #2 sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at a local hospital,” police said. Sidiya’s brother told TMJ4 that Sidiya “came to the U.S. in 2023 from Mauritania, a country in northwest Africa, searching for a better life.”

Ward “sustained seven broken ribs, a collapsed left lung, a broken left clavicle, a grade 2 liver laceration, and a grade 4 spleen laceration, according to the criminal complaint for Wilkerson,” TMJ4 reported.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel uses the name Al-Mukhtar Abdullah Muhammad Sidiya.

The criminal case

The criminal prosecution of Cera Wilkerson is separate from the family’s civil claim against the city.

Wilkerson was charged with five felonies, FOX6 reported: fleeing police resulting in death, fleeing police resulting in great bodily harm, second-degree reckless homicide, second-degree reckless injury, and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.

“In a statement to police, the complaint said Wilkerson admitted she saw the police lights and thought she was getting pulled over for running a red light,” FOX6 reported.

“She said she has ‘bad anxiety and a bad history with police’ and does not remember what happened until she crashed.”

In September 2026, TMJ4 reported a later status. Wilkerson “was found competent to proceed with court proceedings after her attorneys argued she was not guilty by reason of mental disease. She faces 6 felony charges, including fleeing an officer causing death and second-degree reckless homicide. She is due back in court on Oct. 6.”

That October 6 date is in a September 26, 2026 story. As of November 10, 2026, the sources linked here do not report what happened on October 6. They do not report a plea or a verdict. A finding that she was competent to proceed is not a conviction. The earlier count of five named felonies and the later report of six felony charges are both left as those outlets wrote them. The stories do not name a sixth count.

The civil claim

The wrongful-death claim is separate from the criminal case against Wilkerson.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the family filed its wrongful-death suit on September 16, 2026. TMJ4 reported that the suit is against the city of Milwaukee and the officers. The lawsuit TMJ4 obtained alleges that two Milwaukee police officers negligently continued a high-speed pursuit through busy streets, creating an unreasonable risk, and that the pursuit contributed to the collision that killed Sidiya. Those are allegations. They are not a judgment.

The public filing record linked here is a clerk communication, not the complaint itself. Milwaukee Legistar File #260822 is titled “Communication from the City Clerk relating to service of papers.” Its status is “Placed On File,” with an introduced date and a passed date of October 13, 2026. The file text includes this September 25, 2026 entry: Abdallah Sidiya and Zeinbou Minh, State of Wisconsin Circuit Court, summons and complaint, wrongful death, Case No. 2026cv008445, Ahmad & Guerraro LLP.

That entry records service of a summons and complaint. It is not a ruling. The Legistar file does not include the complaint, and it does not show a settlement or a judgment. As of November 10, 2026, the news reports linked here do not show one either.

Sidiya’s uncle, Brahim Minih, told TMJ4 he believed both the driver and the officers were responsible. “If they stopped chasing this lady when they got to the busy area, Moctar would be alive,” he said. Milwaukee police told TMJ4 they do not comment on lawsuits. The city attorney’s office had not immediately responded.

Milwaukee’s chase policy

“The Milwaukee Police Department is implementing a new chase policy that eliminates speeding as the sole reason for pursuing drivers,” WISN 12 reported. “In 2025, police chases resulted in nine fatalities, including six innocent bystanders,” the station reported. Those figures are the station’s account of citywide pursuits. They are not a finding about this collision.

“This summer, a Common Council effort to alter the Milwaukee Police Department’s pursuit policy failed to pass,” the Journal Sentinel reported in September 2026.

Sources

• TMJ4, “Family of rideshare driver killed in Milwaukee police chase crash sues city and MPD,” by Ryan Jenkins, September 2026
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via AOL), “Family of rideshare driver killed in police chase sues MPD and city,” by Tamia Fowlkes, September 26, 2026
• City of Milwaukee Legistar, File #260822, Communication from the City Clerk relating to service of papers, Case No. 2026cv008445
• Milwaukee Police Department news release (via Urban Milwaukee), July 29, 2025
• FOX6 News, report on the charges after the Brady Street pursuit
• CBS 58, “Milwaukee woman charged in deadly Brady Street crash stemming from police pursuit”
• TMJ4, “Family shares identity of rideshare passenger injured in Brady Street police chase crash”
• TMJ4, report identifying El Moctar Sidiya
• WISN 12, Milwaukee police chase policy change

RideClaim.co is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.