Local News
High-Speed Pursuit Ends With Racine Man Arrested, Recovery Of 2,500 Fentanyl Pills
A vehicle pursuit late Tuesday (7/19/2022) that traveled through 3 counties, including Fond du Lac, ended with a Racine man under arrest.
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department was notified at 10:05 pm, by the Winnebago County’s Communication Center of a vehicle that had fled from a traffic stop from a Winnebago County Deputy. The vehicle was traveling on I-41 entering Fond du Lac County. Winnebago County attempted to stop the vehicle for unsafe lane deviation but did not pursue the vehicle.
A Deputy with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office located the vehicle on I-41 near Townline Rd. and observed the suspect vehicle make an unsafe lane deviation, The Deputy also noted the registration plate did not match the vehicle it was on.
The Deputy activated his emergency lights and sirens and the vehicle increased its speed and failed to stop for the Deputy. During the pursuit deputies observed a white bag was thrown from the vehicle and landed in the middle of I-41. The bag was recovered immediately by a trailing deputy and was found to contain a significant amount of illegal drugs.
The vehicle continued southbound on I-41 into Dodge County, where it lost control, entered a ditch, and crashed near Quad Graphics. The vehicle became disabled and stopped on the railroad tracks west of I-41. The driver fled the vehicle on foot, with Deputies and K-9 Iro from the Fond du Lac County Sheriffs Office locating the male hiding in the tall grass nearby. The driver was taken into custody without incident.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a loaded handgun and a digital scale. The bag that was recovered during the pursuit contained 5 Ziploc bags of counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl and 3 bags of cocaine. The suspected fentanyl pills had a total weight of 297 grams and are estimated to be around 2,500 individual pills. The suspected cocaine weighed 84 grams.
There were no injuries reported and no squad cars were damaged as a result of the pursuit. Mayville Ambulance and Brownsville First Responders evaluated the suspect for injuries at the scene of the crash and he was released to deputies.
The suspect, a 28-year old male from Racine, is currently held at the Fond du Lac County Jail, with pending charges of fleeing/eluding an officer, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute (>50 grams), possession of cocaine with intent to distribute (>50 grams), 1st degree recklessly endangering safety, possession of drug paraphernalia, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. The investigation is on going.
Dodge County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the pursuit and at the crash scene. The pursuit traveled 13.8 miles.