WAUKESHA — A man charged in a double-fatal crash that killed a Muskego couple in Milwaukee while allegedly fleeing from police last week had been out on bail on two cases in Waukesha County, according to court records.
Papa Diallo, 24, was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Friday with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, two counts fleeing an officer resulting in death, a count of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and two felony counts of bail jumping, and was scheduled for an intake court appearance in Milwaukee County on Monday; online circuit court records were not updated by the end of business hours Monday.
Diallo was charged after a crash Tuesday night at North 27th Street and West St. Paul Avenue that took the lives of John Zablocki, 68, and Barbara Zablocki, 65, who both died of multiple blunt force injuries, a criminal complaint said. The couple were identified by a representative of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.
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The complaint in the case said a sheriff’s deputy leaving the Mitchell Park Domes saw a car with no license plates driving north on 27th Street, then saw the Ford drift over the fog line at about 9:50 p.m. The deputy tried to stop the car, but the driver, Diallo, swerved into oncoming traffic then ran a red light at St. Paul Avenue and struck a vehicle containing the Zablockis that was westbound on St. Paul before striking another vehicle, the occupant of which was uninjured, the complaint said. Diallo was traveling over 70 mph at the time, the complaint said. John Zablocki died at the scene; Barbara Zablocki succumbed to her injuries Thursday.
Online court records show that at the time, Diallo was on bail in two Waukesha County cases. In the first, he was released on $3,000 cash bond after he was charged here with fleeing police, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of THC (marijuana) and an illegally obtained prescription, and operating while revoked. In the second case, he was released after signing a $500 signature bond on a charge of bail jumping, merely a day before the fatal crash, court records show. Conditions of bond in both cases included that he commit no further crimes and not drive without being properly licensed.
In the first Waukesha County case, Diallo reportedly fled from a traffic stop near Campus Drive in Hartland on Sept. 28 after an officer saw a vehicle speeding. As a police officer walked to the passenger side of the car so Diallo could display his auto insurance on his phone, Diallo sped away at over 70 mph in a 25-mph zone, leading to a chase in which the officer lost sight of his vehicle at Red Fox Run. A crash was reported at a house on Red Fox Run and Beaver Lake Road, with a female passenger injured. Ultimately, Diallo was arrested, and a backpack containing a 9 mm gun, ammunition and marijuana was linked to him after being found in the area, the complaint in that case said.
In the bail jumping case, which allegedly occurred in Milwaukee County but was prosecuted in Waukesha County, Diallo was stopped near 27th Street and Juneau Avenue on Jan. 10, after he disregarded a red stoplight, first telling an officer he was having brake issues and then saying he ran the red light because he didn’t want to be late for work. Diallo was found with a gun magazine in his pants pocket, the complaint said.
Diallo waived a preliminary hearing in that case April 22, and was referred to an immigration lawyer, online court records and his attorney Paul Bucher stated.
Bucher, who does not represent Diallo on the Milwaukee case, said he was “just horrified” at the new allegations and “(his) heart breaks” for the Zablocki family. He said he was appointed by the county to represent the indigent Diallo in the Waukesha cases, and expected a public defender would represent Diallo in Milwaukee. Bucher said Diallo’s father posted the $3,000 cash bail in the first Waukesha County case, and said he thought it was reasonable given what was known when the case was charged last October and when a motion to covert it to a signature bond was denied last week by Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lloyd Carter. Bucher said “there was no indication he was a flight risk and he was doing everything I thought that I told him to do.”
“That was always my worst fears when I was district attorney and I am sure it was a real fear for judges and court commissioners when they release somebody on bail to hope they don’t see them ever again, much less for an alleged offense like this,” Bucher said.
“Good, bad or ugly, that’s just how it works. We can second guess until we are blue in face but I thought it was reasonable balance that was struck based on what I know and what I knew then.”
District Attorney Sue Opper echoed those sentiments, saying in making bail decisions, court officials have to consider the facts as they are known at the time. Bail was posted in Diallo’s first case, he had no prior record, and the bail jumping case was months old by the time Waukesha prosecutors picked that case up after Milwaukee counterparts declined to prosecute it, she said.
“I understand the public is frustrated, we all are, but you have to understand we are attempting to manage the risk and predict future behavior and none of us have a crystal ball,” she said. “There was an appropriate review conducted at that time and the person that’s responsible for this is the defendant himself, who clearly chooses to ignore the law and endanger other people.”
The Freeman also reached out to the candidates vying to succeed Opper as district attorney. Deputy District Attorney Mike Thurston said his heart goes out to the family in this “absolutely tragic situation.”
Thurston said he began working on revising state bail processes as early as 2016 with state Rep. Cindi Duchow, as a result of a sexual assault case where members of the victim’s family were concerned after an alleged perpetrator was allowed to post bail. At the time, judges could only impose bail for purposes of a defendant’s likelihood to return to court, and not consider their danger to the community. That changed after the Waukesha Christmas Parade case, when Darrell Brooks was out on bail when he drove through the parade route. Thurston said he testified twice in favor of a constitutional amendment passed by voters to change bail laws.
“I have been working with Cindi Duchow and doing my best to see that bail reform occurred. It’s unconscionable that prior to 2023 judges could not consider the dangerousness of a defendant. Now they can,” Thurston said. “She and I have tangibly been working on this for the last seven years, 2016 to 2023, and it’s a been slow grind but I am proud to say a constitutional amendment occurred and we were part of it.”
Deputy DA Lesli Boese, the other candidate running for district attorney, did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday.
