A stolen van that had deputies hopping county lines in Kenosha and Racine finally came to a grinding halt Thursday morning, slamming into a median wall on I-94 before the driver surrendered to officers. Southbound traffic backed up as deputies, state troopers, and other local agencies swarmed the interstate to secure the scene.
According to FOX6, the Kenosha County Sheriff's Office said the van was reported stolen from Martino’s Dry Cleaners in the City of Kenosha after an employee refused to return it. Officers first started chasing the vehicle on Wednesday. It resurfaced around 8 a.m. today, triggering another pursuit that crossed into Racine County and then came back into Kenosha County. The chase ended after law enforcement used spike strips and a P.I.T. maneuver, which led to the crash and the driver’s arrest.
How officers stopped the van
Several Kenosha County deputies set up along I-94 while a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper deployed tire-deflation devices to slow the fleeing van. When the driver tried to dodge the spikes, a Racine County Sheriff's deputy executed a P.I.T. maneuver that pushed the van into the median wall. The driver followed officers’ commands and was taken into custody without further incident.
Why it matters locally
Multi-jurisdictional pursuits along the busy I-94 corridor are not new for southeastern Wisconsin. In one earlier case, a chase that started in West Allis ended in Kenosha, as detailed in Multi-County High-Speed Chase Ends. County agencies say they rely on coordinated tactics to limit risks to other drivers during these fast-moving situations. TMJ4 reports that the Kenosha County Sheriff's Office has trained its deputies, along with partner departments, to respond jointly to major crashes and complex incidents.
