Leader Staff
A 59-year-old Clintonville man was arrested Tuesday morning after a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV.
Clintonville police received a call about 9:30 a.m. of a vehicle stolen from Steinke Auto on West Street in the city.
The vehicle was later spotted by Marion police who tried pulling it over.
Instead, the SUV sped off and a chase ensued going north on U.S. Highway 45 into Shawano County, then west on state Highway 29 into Marathon County.
Officers attempted several times to deploy stop-stick deflation devices, but the fleeing driver drove around the sticks as well as through the median area between eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 29, according to a news release from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department.
The fleeing driver crossed over through the median area several times and began traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes, then would cross back over through the median area and continue fleeing in the westbound lanes, the department said.
The vehicle struck three squad cars trying to contain it at one point during the chase.
The chase reached speeds of 80 mph and finally ended in Rib Mountain after the damaged vehicle went into an embankment along U.S. Highway 51.
The driver was taken into custody without incident. No further information was available.
Numerous agencies were involved in the chase, including Clintonville and Marion police, sheriff’s deputies from Waupaca, Shawano and Marathon counties, along with the Everest Metro Police Department, Rothschild Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol and Wausau Police Department.