High speed car chase begins in Hinckley, ends in Dairyland

A high-speed car chase involving law enforcement officers from two states ended Monday afternoon in Dairyland with three arrests. The pursuit began when a Minnesota State Patrol Trooper attempted to make a traffic stop near the casino in Hinckley, Minn., according to a Douglas County Sheriff’s Department report. The vehicle fled eastbound on Minnesota Highway 48 toward the Wisconsin border, reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. The three men in the car were throwing items from inside the vehicle and appeared to be passing each other objects, according to the report. When the chase began, the three were not wearing seatbelts, but used them during the pursuit.

The pursuit continued into Wisconsin on Highway 77, where Burnett County Sheriff’s Department squads took up pursuit. The vehicle sped through Danbury then headed north on Wisconsin Highway 35. The vehicle attempted to turn eastbound on Highway 77 but struck the curb, blew out the driver’s side front tire, went into the ditch and then continued northbound on Highway 35 at a lower rate of speed. The vehicle was stopped north of Fire Engine Hill Road in Dairyland. The car the three had been driving had been stolen out of St. Paul that day, according to the report.

The suspects – Juan Mario Hollow of Minneapolis and Joseph Dennis Lussier and Brian Cole Wolfe of Lac du Flambeau, Wis. -- were handcuffed and escorted to the Douglas County jail. The driver of the vehicle, 21-year-old Lussier, made his initial appearance in Douglas County Circuit Court Tuesday for felony counts of operating a vehicle without owners’ consent and vehicle operator flee/elude officer, according to online court records. Cash bond was set at $1,500. Lussier has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Wolfe, 21, and 18-year-old hollow each face one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle without owner’s consent-passenger in Douglas County Circuit Court, according to online court records. Wolfe also had an active felony warrant from Vilas County at the time of the incident, according to the report.

Superior Telegram

Tags: douglas county, news, crime, courts, auto, minnesota, wisconsin