ST. CROIX COUNTY, Wis. — A dangerous, high-speed chase involving a suspect fleeing from U.S. Deputy Marshals ended in a crash near Hudson, Wis. Wednesday afternoon. The suspect is in custody and was transferred to Regions Hospital.
Authorities say the suspect, fleeing in an alleged stolen vehicle, was wanted for kidnapping and sexual assault.
The St. Louis Park Police Department said in a press release that the suspect had been wanted since Nov. 3 after a woman reported that the suspect broke into her house and sexually assaulted her. The suspect then forced her to accompany him to two ATMs in the metro area and forced her to withdraw cash for him. It is unknown if the suspect and the victim knew each other before the incident.
The North Star Fugitive Task Force working with the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Forced attempted to arrest the suspect near Newport, Minn. Wednesday afternoon, prompting the high-speed chase. Officials from the U.S. Marshals and Washington County Sheriff's Office were in pursuit when the suspect began into oncoming traffic on Highway 36 near Lake Elmo. The suspect then crossed over into Wisconsin.
According to a press release from the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office, the suspect, driving a Ford truck, crossed over into Wisconsin on the new St. Croix River bridge, and then continued south into Hudson, Wis. at speeds around 70 mph. The truck partially hit stop sticks in Hudson, but continued eastbound on I-94 without stopping.
"Once they get the wrong way on the interstate, generally we'll parallel and try and warn oncoming traffic," said Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Kirk Danielson. "But with the other felony crimes that were committed outside of Wisconsin — the (Washington County) deputy and the U.S. Marshals were the ones in pursuit and they ran it as they see fit."
The suspect continued crossing over into oncoming traffic on Wisconsin State Highway 35, and one Washington County Sheriff's deputy deduced the situation to be potentially deadly, so they performed a "Pursuit Intervention Technique," which involves the deputy ramming into the suspect's vehicle, according to the release.
Following the collision, the suspect's truck crashed into an unoccupied vehicle on the shoulder, rolled over and broke into three pieces, according to Washington State Patrol. Danielson said the suspect was ejected from the vehicle and was partially trapped under the cab of the truck after the vehicle rolled.
Authorities say the suspect was was transported to Regions Hospital by Lakeview EMS and in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Office on multiple Ramsey County felony warrants and an alleged burglary and criminal sexual conduct incident.
Wisconsin State Patrol said they will be assisting St. Croix County Sheriff's Office and the Technical Crash Unit to investigate scene to cover the deadly force situation.
