MILWAUKEE --
A fight breaks out following a crash during a funeral procession. Witnesses said the van headed to the cemetery was hit by another vehicle that would not stop. Now the Milwaukee police department is being criticized for its response.
Leroy Baker said his relatives were in the van and said, "We were ahead of the funeral procession, and we were at the cemetery, and we had got word that there had been an accident back here."
Baker and dozens of family members rushed back to Sherman Boulevard and Capitol Drive where the accident happened.
Emotions were running high and some in the crowd fought with the driver of the vehicle witnesses say caused the van to flip and roll over.
"That wasn't necessary right there. That isn't going to solve anything," said Baker of the fight.
Witnesses said the chaos could have been prevented.
"The police 15 minutes. The fire department it took about 2 minutes," Kevin Davis described of the response times.
Earl Ingram, hosts a radio show for WMCS, and was at the accident shortly after in happened. Ingram said, "Traffic is being directed by citizens. You saw the fight that occurred over here. It was because there was no police here. "
Even Milwaukee firefighters, who were busy helping the three adults and two children injured, criticized the police department.
Battalion Chief Ralph Gallow said, "We could have used police to be here a little sooner, I'll be honest with you and I only share it because it factors into our ability to work."
Gallow said Thursday's police response, luckily, did not affect his firefighters' work. Gallow also said he was understanding of the police department's own work load.
Chief Ed Flynn was at a police event Thursday shortly after the crash and told 12 News, "But if the first reports are correct it appears to me it took us too long to get there."
Milwaukee police took a closer look at the incident and the department's spokesperson released a statement that said the first squad was dispatched within 5 minutes.
The release also said, " Unfortunately, the dispatcher did not break the unit off its assignment nor convey the seriousness of the call. We know that complex emergency response systems occasionally function less than optimally despite our best efforts. "
Milwaukee police said they will continue to work to improve response times to priority calls.
Police said all five victims were treated and released.
No one was cited or arrested for the crash or the fight.
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