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MILWAUKEE — Another Milwaukee family is grappling with the sudden loss of a loved one.

Edward Curran, 66, was killed Saturday after a semi-truck drove into his car that was parked on the side of the road near 108th and Layton Avenue.

Curran’s brother, Stan, tells TMJ4 he and his brother were close.

“He was very kind,” Stan Curran said. “He helped me with my yard, helped me with daily tasks and I also helped him whenever he needed help.”

Saturday morning, Stan Curran spent hours helping his brother get his car started up after it stopped running.

Just a few hours later, he told TMJ4 he opened his front door to Greenfield police bearing unthinkable news — his brother had died.

“My reaction was total disbelief,” Stan Curran recalled.

Police said Edward Curran’s car had stalled again, causing him to park on the side of the road when a semi-driver from Texas crashed into him and then continued into a power pole.

That driver was not hurt and police said he is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

TMJ4 asked Greenfield police if the driver would be charged but did not hear back.

“It amazed me because it was a beautiful afternoon like today,” Stan Curran told TMJ4. “There was no fog, there was no rain, there were no clouds — I don’t understand how a semi-driver 10 feet above was unable to see a car on the side of the road that was disabled.”

On Monday, Stan came back to the crash site for closure.

“I found a thousand little pieces of car parts. The only possession I was able to locate and find was a seashell,” he said.

The shell belonged to his brother who once lived in Florida.

“He brought back a seashell and it was always on the front of his dashboard. I was able to find that piece of my brother.”

Now, flowers sit on the grass where Edward Curran was last. Stan remembers him for his love for music, the Brewers and his family.

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Milwaukee’s former city attorney has been charged with misconduct in public office — a felony — and resisting or obstructing an officer.

Tearman Spencer, who was defeated by Evan Goyke in an election last spring, faces over four years in jail if convicted and fines of up to $20,000.

A criminal complaint filed Wednesday by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said Spencer directed his staff to help him “avoid, fees and repairs, required by Department of Neighborhood Services Inspections that totaled thousands of dollars and to avoid inspections regarding his personal property.” 

The complaint added he “exercised a discretionary power in a manner inconsistent with the duties of his office with intent to obtain a dishonest advantage for himself or another.”

This isn’t the first time Spencer has found himself in hot water. In 2023, a state equal rights officer found there was “probable cause” to believe he violated labor laws after a former assistant city attorney reported he had touched her inappropriately.

Shortly after Spencer began his term, hoards of attorneys and staff members also left the office, some alleging ethical violations.

Wednesday’s complaint focuses on a property that Spencer used to store cars he owned.

Spencer told an inspector with the Department of Neighborhood Services that he used a locked portion of a building on the city’s north side to store his vehicles.

The inspector was there to perform a fire inspection, but said Spencer’s “presence made her uncomfortable and she did not complete the inspection.” Another inspector who came back later handed out code violations for the property because of illegal use, according to the complaint.

The property owner of the building said Spencer told him he didn’t need an occupancy permit to store his cars at the property because he was given a memo from the city attorney’s office, “stating a building used for storing cars does not need an occupancy permit.”

The complaint said Spencer “exercised a discretionary power of directing city resources in an effort to prevent DNS (Department of Neighborhood Services), who would be the defendant’s client, from conducting inspections and assessment on the property.”

The complaint said that’s because Spencer directed his staff to draft a memo regarding occupancy permits and cars after he was faced with the fines. The complaint said that memo was not sent to the Department of Neighborhood Services, but rather sent to a “private citizen with whom he (Spencer) has private financial dealings in an attempt based on the surrounding circumstances to avoid the inspections and fees in the thousands.”

During an interview with investigators, Spencer admitted he directed his office to work on the memo because “his personal property was at issue,” the complaint said.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called the charges “disturbing and disappointing.”

“The people of Milwaukee have expectations their elected officials scrupulously follow the law, and today’s charges assert that Mr. Spencer did not,” a statement from Johnson said.

“I have consistently called for accountability for those who violate the public’s trust,” the statement added. “The voters of this city removed City Attorney Spencer from office in April.  That was one form of accountability.  He will now face accountability in a court of law.”

Online court records don’t show a court appearance for Spencer yet. The records also don’t reveal who is representing Spencer as his attorney.