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

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

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

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims earlier this week as 41-year-old Ausberto Pascual Gutierrez-Ponce and 39-year-old Michael Gutierrez. Family of the brothers could not be reached Thursday.

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

According to a criminal complaint:

A woman double-parked her SUV in the bicycle lane facing eastbound on Lincoln Avenue when Perez-Garcia, driving a midsize SUV, struck one Gutierrez brother, damaged her SUV, then struck the other Gutierrez brother.

The woman said she had been at the bar and her neighbor, Ausberto Gutierrez, asked for a ride home. She said the pair drove to the 1900 block of West Lincoln Avenue, and she parked in the bicycle lane to let Ausberto Gutierrez out of the SUV.

As Ausberto Gutierrez got out of the vehicle, he approached the driver's side and was met by his brother, Michael Gutierrez, who wanted to talk. 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 her vehicle and kept on going.

Officers determined the vehicle parts at the scene following the crash belonged to a Chevrolet Traverse. Surveillance video did not capture the collision but video does show the Traverse traveling eastbound on Lincoln Avenue just west of the scene. A different video shows the Traverse a few blocks east with a passenger side headlight out.

Perez-Garcia was arrested later that day. He admitted to causing the collision and leaving the scene. He said he had been at a bar and drank eight 12-ounce cans of Modelo beer and ate food. Perez-Garcia said "he was not drunk, but that he was buzzed," the complaint states.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation records show that Perez-Garcia has never been issued a driver's license, according to the complaint. He does not yet have a permanent attorney listed.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man charged in hit-and-run crash that killed two Milwaukee brothers