Waukesha Police Detective Casey Was ‘Pounding on the Hood’ and ‘Yelling for it to Stop’: New Charges Against Parade Suspect Darrell Brooks

WAUKESHA – Waukesha Police Detective Thomas Casey recounted pounding on the hood of Waukesha Christmas parade suspect Darrell Brooks’ SUV, begging him to stop, at the preliminary hearing on Friday after County Court Commissioner Kevin Costello announced 72 new charges.

Costello spent seven minutes listing each new count to Brooks, who sat in a red prison jumpsuit and surgical mask. The suspect closed his eyes and stared straight ahead. Costello listed victims all the way from A to PPP.

The new charges include 60 counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, each with a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment. Additionally, there are five counts of hit-and-run-resulting in death, each with a maximum sentence of 25 years, and one count of first-degree intentional homicide through use of a dangerous weapon with a maximum sentence of life in prison. The last four charges relate to misdemeanor battery domestic abuse and bodily harm for an incident hours prior to the parade at Frame Park. The last charge is for felony bail jumping.

Six people lost their lives, and 55 injured after a Ford Escape drove through the crowds on Main Street at the Waukesha Christmas parade on Nov. 21, 2021. The driver ignored numerous barricades and police attempts to stop him, according to videos from the scene and the criminal complaint.

Waukesha Parade Suspect Did Not Stop

Waukesha Police Detective Thomas Casey took the stand as the state’s witness to the parade incident. He was on traffic control at White Rock Avenue and was the first officer to attempt to stop Brooks from entering the parade, putting his hands on the hood of the car.

“The car made contact with me,” Casey said. “I was pounding on the hood, yelling for it to stop, which it did not.”

The car sped past Casey slowly as the detective pounded on the driver side window, begging for him to stop. Later, he identified Brooks as the driver he saw.

The car began to accelerate once he entered the parade route. He estimated that the car reached speeds of 40-50 miles per hour. After gaining possession of the car following the incident, police examinations found nothing defective that would lead to a car being unable to stop.

The Court Gives a Timeline of Events

Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper and Brooks’ attorney Anna Kees questioned Casey, the lead investigator in the case, running through the order in which Brooks rammed through each parade group while zigzagging through the road.

Casey estimated that thousands were in attendance when the suspect drove through the parade.

The first victim struck and injured was walking with the Remax group. Then, the Waukesha South Band and Burris Logistics, where the vehicle rammed through 12 people, including numerous students and a mother with her daughter. Then, the Blazer’s Baseball Team, the Waukesha Xtreme Dance Team, Citizens Bank group and finally the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. The SUV killed four grannies and one child.

“It appears that the vehicle is intentionally aiming for people,” Casey said. “At one point in the video, you can see the vehicle running over people. There’s someone on the hood of the car, where the vehicle jams on its breaks, appears to have the person come off the hood of the car, and continues driving, and drives over that person.”

The suspect also reportedly stuck his head out of the window to see the road after a person he had struck landed on the windshield of the car. He continued driving through people.

The police recovered 65 videos from citizens, businesses and city cameras, according to Casey. They all captured the path of the car down the street. At one point, Brooks passed a street on the left where he could have exited, but instead continued down Main Street until the end of the parade, where an officer shot the car three times. Still, the driver continued and drove out of vision.

Brooks then got out of the vehicle on a side street and ran, according to the arresting officers’ report. At the time of arrest, police noted an odor of burnt marijuana and glassy, bloodshot eyes. He had been released on bail for previous crimes at the time.

Brooks’ attorney recalled Brooks’ interrogation records, where police showed him the videos of the SUV driving through the parade. The defendant apparently turned his head away and begged them to stop.

“I didn’t mean to kill nobody,” Brooks said to police officers during the interrogation.

What Comes Next

According to the prosecution, there were numerous victims present in the courtroom and watching the livestream. All attending victims are prepared to testify during the trial.

At the end of the hearing, Costello concluded that there is ample evidence to bring Brooks’ case to trial. If he is found guilty of all charges, Brooks faces life imprisonment.

Witnesses and victims will begin testifying on the next court date, February 11, 2022.