By Chris Rickert
The Wisconsin State Journal
MADISON, Wis. — Monona’s police chief says a driver who injured a Madison police officer during a vehicle chase Saturday might have purposely run into the officer’s squad car.
In a statement early Monday afternoon, Chief Brian Chaney said 36-year-old Christopher Brugger “may have intentionally crashed into the occupied police squad” with the tow truck he was driving. The officer involved, Ryan Kimberley, sustained serious injuries, according to a statement from Madison police.
According to a news release Monona police issued Saturday night, officers were called just before 2 p.m. about a tow truck being driven recklessly on Highway 51. The caller said the tow truck nearly struck multiple vehicles but that its driver had pulled into the BP gas station at 1220 E. Broadway.
As Monona officers approached the truck, Brugger took off, driving over the curb onto eastbound Broadway and then into another parking lot where he again drove over the curb and sidewalk and onto westbound Broadway.
As police from Monona and other agencies gave chase, Brugger continued west on Broadway to Monona Drive, where he drove over a median and into a parking lot and then turned back onto Broadway, where a sedan on the flatbed of the tow truck slid off, landing in the road.
He then continued on Broadway and Highway 51 and eventually took Siggelkow Road to Erling Avenue to Terminal Drive, where he swerved into the oncoming traffic lane and struck the Madison police squad.
Brugger then jumped from the truck and was arrested after a brief foot chase. He was booked into the Dane County Jail on a parole violation and tentative charges including operating while intoxicated, possession of methamphetamine and reckless driving, according to Monona police and jail records.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol are leading the investigation into the crash with the Madison squad.
Kimberley has been identified as a Madison K-9 officer by Capital K9s, which raises money to maintain the police department’s K-9 unit.
The group said Monday that Kimberley’s squad car was engulfed in flames just after he and his K-9, Freddie, were removed from the car by other officers.
“Ryan sustained severe injuries to his extremities and has undergone several surgeries already,” the organization said. “K9 Freddie sustained a laceration to his paw and is recovering with MPD K9 Unit members.”
The organization has set up a page on the fundraising site zeffy.com for donations to support Kimberley and his family.
In a video statement Monday, Chaney said “we have a problem here in our community, here in Dane County , with repeat offenders.”
“Something needs to be done,” he said. “I’m telling you, in my years and years of experience, that we have a problem here with the same folks doing the same criminal acts.”
Online state court records show Brugger has convictions for multiple offenses going back 20 years. He was most recently convicted in June 2023 of felony eluding police.
As part of a plea deal in that case, charges of hit and run and attempted retail theft were dismissed and Brugger was sentenced in August 2023 to 1½ years in prison and two years of supervised release.
State Department of Corrections records show he was released from custody in May but had spent most of the last 12 years in prison.
© 2025 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.).
Visit www.wisconsinstatejournal.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
