March 10, 2023 – Fond du Lac, WI – On Friday March 10, 2023, at approximately 1:42 p.m., The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office was notified that the City of Fond du Lac Police Department was actively in a high speed vehicle pursuit and that the pursuit was heading north on Interstate 41 from Johnson St., which is located in the City of Fond du Lac.
Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office along with Troopers from the Wisconsin State Patrol began responding to assist.
A Sheriff’s Deputy was able to successfully deploy a tire deflation device in the area of I-41 and CTH N.
Additional deputies were able to catch up to the pursuit and took over the pursuit. The vehicle came to a brief stop on I-41. A high-risk stop was initiated and the vehicle began to elude law enforcement again by continuing north on I-41.
Deputies utilized a box-in maneuver to bring the vehicle to a stop just south of the Winnebago County line on I41.
The lone occupant, a 36 year-old Oshkosh man, had locked the vehicle doors, rolled the windows up, and refused to obey commands to exit the vehicle.
Deputies had to break a car window in order to gain entry to the vehicle. The male continued to refuse to obey commands of deputies and resisted efforts to take him into custody.
A deputy discharged a Conducted Energy Weapon, which was effective, and deputies were able to remove the suspect from the vehicle where he was then taken into custody by the Fond du Lac Police Department. The Fond du Lac Police Department took care of all the criminal charges.
A Sheriff’s Office squad car sustained minor damage during the box in maneuver. No other property damage or injuries to law enforcement or the suspect occurred.
Shortly before 2pm and shortly after the conclusion of the vehicle pursuit, southbound traffic on I-41 was slowing down as drivers were watching what was taking place in the northbound lanes. A southbound vehicle rear-ended another southbound vehicle that had slowed for southbound traffic, which started a chain collision that resulted in four vehicles colliding with one another. As a result of this crash, I-41 was down to one lane of travel in the southbound lanes for approximately one-hour before being completely reopened. No serious injuries were suffered during this crash. The Wisconsin State Patrol investigated the crash with the assistance of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office.