Man Dies In I-43 New Year's Rollover Crash: Sheriff

GREENFIELD, WI — Authorities in Milwaukee County say a 28-year-old man has died after a rollover crash early on New Year's Day.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's office is reporting that at 1:50 a.m., deputies responded to a call from an eyewitness who said that a car was involved in a rollover crash on I-43 just south of W. Silver Spring Drive.

Sheriff's officials said an off-duty Greenfield police officer also stopped when he saw the vehicle off the road. The officer pulled his vehicle over, made contact with the accident victim, and began CPR until deputies, Glendale police and the North Shore Fire Department paramedics arrived to continue resuscitation efforts.

Authorities said that a driver traveling north saw the vehicle hit the median wall, cross all lanes of traffic, and then roll over as it went off the road 30 feet up an embankment and into a bank of trees.

The North Shore Fire Department paramedic unit pronounced the man deceased at 2:19 a.m. Sheriff’s detectives also responded to the scene for the crash to investigate and to also notify his family.

Authorities identified the man as Jose Ortiz-Hernandez, age 28, of Milwaukee. He was the person in the vehicle and was not wearing a seatbelt. The Medical Examiner investigator responded to the scene and gave the official time of the death of 3:30 a.m.

The south lanes were closed for the investigation and were re-opened at 6:00 a.m.

Editor's Note: The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office provided Patch with updated information, correcting Ortiz-Hernandez age from 19 years old to 28 years old.

Image Via Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office