By Leader Staff
A Clintonville man already facing charges in Marathon County for a high-speed chase last month was also charged in Shawano County this week for the portion of the chase that took place here.
Randall G. Wilson, 58, was found competent to stand trial in Marathon County Circuit Court after a hearing Thursday.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Marathon County on April 15 on felony charges of fleeing an officer in a vehicle, recklessly endangering safety and operating a vehicle without consent.
He is charged in Shawano County with one count of fleeing an officer in a vehicle.
The March 17 incident began when 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 Marathon County report of the incident.
The fleeing driver crossed over 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, according to the report.
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.
Wilson was taken into custody without incident.
Wilson could face a maximum 12½ years in prison and $25,000 fine for recklessly endangering safety if convicted; six years and a $10,000 fine for operating a vehicle without consent; and 3½ years and a $10,000 fine for fleeing an officer.
There is no court date set yet in the Shawano County case.
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.