MONONA Police arrested a 30-year-old Fitchburg man on Monday after a stolen-vehicle chase that started in Monona and ended on Interstate 39/90 by a rest area just north of Janesville.
According to a Monona Police Department release:
Around 11:20 p.m. on Monday, Monona police were alerted to a stolen Buick that was recognized by a city-owned license-plate-recognition camera.
A police supervisor in the area spotted the car driving south at over 60 miles per hour near Monona Drive at Nichols Road. Police were able to catch up it as it exited from the Beltline Highway onto U.S. Highway 51. The driver stopped and was ordered out at gunpoint but did not comply and drove off.
The car continued south into McFarland but then turned back toward Monona, entering the eastbound Beltline, where officers noticed its driver-side front tire coming apart, likely due to a hard turn made during the pursuit.
Dane County 9-1-1/Public Safety Communications also alerted police that the driver had a violent and dangerous history involving the use of firearms, the release said.
The chase continued on I-39/90 southbound/eastbound into Rock County. Squad video released by Monona Police showed sparks coming from the vehicle during the chase, which it said was traveling on a bare rim by that point.
Near the southbound rest area just south of East Manogue Road, a McFarland Police SUV used a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, twice and brought the car to a stop along the I-39/90 shoulder.
A high-risk stop was conducted and the suspect ordered to exit the car. After several minutes of refusing orders and attempts to negotiate, coupled with information about the suspects history of armed and violent behavior, police shot non-lethal chemical irritants into the car. Soon after that, the man got out and was taken into custody.
After a routine medical evaluation at an emergency room, Raequon D. Allen was booked into the Dane County Jail on multiple potential charges including second-degree recklessly endangering safety, knowingly fleeing an officer, operating a motor vehicle without consent, resisting or obstructing, and operating while revoked.
Monona Police Chief Brian Chaney said Allen is serving federal probation for armed robbery with an enhancer for violence while brandishing a firearm. The robberies took place at multiple gas stations in Dane County, he said. Allen also has a state criminal history, including felony eluding causing bodily harm or property damage, felony operating a motor vehicle without consent, resisting/obstructing, and theft, among other crimes, Chaney said.
In the release, Chaney said police risk their lives to keep our communities safe and will continue to do what is expected of us despite the many challenges of what is seemingly a revolving door of violent, repeat offenders in our shared community.
In addition to Monona and McFarland police, the Dane County Sheriff's Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, Janesville Police Department, and a K9 and Fitchburg Police Department drone assisted in the incident.
The stolen vehicle was recovered and will be returned to the owner, the release said.