August 10, 2023 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – On August 9, 2023 at 6:53 p.m., the Fond du Lac Communication Center received a 911 call in St. Cloud from a male saying that he was just struck by his father and that his father was intoxicated. The caller indicated his father was now leaving the residence in a gold minivan. Before dispatch could relay any information to deputies, a deputy with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office happened to be patrolling in the area when the gold minivan pulled out of the driveway onto the roadway at a high rate of speed in front of the deputy almost striking the deputy’s squad car.
The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle for failing to yield right of way and the vehicle increased its speeds. A pursuit was initiated southbound on CTH G. Moments into the pursuit the deputy was made aware of the related 911 call. The gold minivan then turned eastbound on CTH C entering Sheboygan County. The vehicle continued at a high rate of speed before turning southbound on CTH A. A deputy with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office was positioned with spike strips on CTH A near HWY 23. Just before the pursuit reached the second deputy, the gold minivan attempted to pull into a farm driveway on CTH A to avoid the spike strips. When the van entered the driveway the driver lost control of the minivan. The minivan struck a road sign and then became disabled in the ditch. The driver was taken into custody without incident.
The driver is a 59-year-old male from St. Cloud. The male has four open cases through Fond du Lac County and is on probation. Three of the open cases have conditions of absolute sobriety. The male has one prior OWI and has a pending OWI arrest making this his third time he has been arrested for OWI. The male also was charged with felony fleeing/eluding, four misdemeanor bail-jumping charges, and other traffic citations stemming from the incident.
The gold minivan received minor damage and one road sign was damaged during the pursuit. No squad cars were damaged and there were no injuries to the suspect or deputies.
Assisting at the scene was Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office.
The pursuit lasted approximately 10 miles.
Sergeant Andrew Kohlmann
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office