POYNETTE, Wis. — A 51-year-old New York man was arrested after stealing a vehicle with a woman sleeping inside and leading law enforcement officers on a chase in Columbia County early Saturday morning, the county’s sheriff’s office said.
In a Facebook post, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said dispatchers began getting calls around 3:25 a.m. Saturday from the woman, who had been sleeping in the back seat of a vehicle while her family went into a truck stop gas station on County Highway CS in the town of Dekorra.
When the woman woke up, the 51-year-old man was driving the vehicle at high speeds and would not let her out, the sheriff’s office said. The woman was able to intermittently contact Columbia and Sauk County dispatchers to let them know where she and the man were; location information from the vehicle also helped law enforcement track them.
Around 4:05 a.m., a deputy saw the vehicle heading west on State Highway 188 in the town of West Point in far southwestern Columbia County. The deputy and troopers from the Wisconsin State Patrol chased the vehicle, using tire deflation devices to get the driver to stop.
Despite losing tires, the man kept driving, leaving the road and hitting several items in the process, the sheriff’s office said. Eventually, the man lost control and the vehicle stopped in a parking lot. Officers arrested him on more than half a dozen tentative charges, including felony eluding, false imprisonment and operating a motor vehicle without consent.
The sheriff’s office said they believe the man was under the influence of a controlled substance at the time of the incident. Law enforcement officers reportedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle he had been driving prior to stealing the vehicle with the woman inside.
The woman was not hurt in the incident.
News 3 Now is not naming the man at this time as part of a policy not to name people accused of crimes until they have been formally charged in court. Click here to learn more about the policy. He is currently being held in the Columbia County Jail.
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