Duluth News Tribune
A prison escapee suspected of taking part in a home invasion in Sawyer County was caught Saturday after nearly two weeks on the run.
The Barron County Sheriff's Office reported Sunday that Kaeden Dumholt, 20, was apprehended near Rice Lake on Saturday morning after a caller reported a suspicious man walking down a road.
Authorities said Dumholt escaped from the minimum-security Black River Correctional Center in Jackson County, Wis., on the night of Aug. 2. The Chippewa Herald reported that he had been housed at a medium-security prison until July 30, when he was transferred to the Black River facility. He was serving a sentence for vehicle theft and fleeing police and also had a conviction for substantial battery.
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Dumholt has ties to Sawyer and Bayfield counties, officials said, and he is a suspect in an armed home invasion and high-speed chase in Sawyer County on Aug. 6. Authorities there had first asked for the public's help in locating him on Aug. 8.
Local, county and state law enforcement agencies were involved in the search, and the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office reported Friday that it had received numerous tips and searched more than 20 residences looking for the escapee.
Dumholt now is being held in the Sawyer County Jail.
According to a Barron County Sheriff's Office news release:
At 6:46 a.m. Saturday, the sheriff's office received a call reporting a suspicious man walking south of Rice Lake on 19½ Street; the caller said the man had been seen walking around a house in the area.
The man told the responding deputy that he had broken down on U.S. HIghway 53 and was looking for help. The deputy recognized the man as Dumholt, but the man denied it.
The suspect was taken to the Barron County Jail, where fingerprints were used to positively identify him as Dumholt. Authorities said Dumholt is connected to a vehicle stolen from Eau Claire that was found crashed in the Rice Lake area earlier Saturday morning.
