WAUKESHA — Waukesha Police released chilling video Thursday, showing how quickly a situation turned dangerous for two of their officers.
Around 9:30 Wednesday night, two Waukesha Police officers approached a wanted man in a car outside a department store on East Moreland Boulevard.
Moments later the video shows a woman who was in the driver seat pushed out of the car. The officers ordered the suspect to get out of the car. They tried using a taser, but the man threw the car in reverse, dragging the officers with him.
"Ended up running over one of the officers. Pretty much half of his body was run over by the vehicle and another officer was thrown when the car door hit him from behind," said Captain Dan Baumann with Waukesha Police.
Police say the suspect escaped to Milwaukee where he lives. He switched into a red Toyota Prius and then led them on a chase.
Surveillance video shows the car speeding down Loomis Road with several squad cars close behind.
"To see this person going through multiple trying to evade apprehension something I haven't seen many times in my career," said Baumann.
The chase went on for nearly 65 miles and cut through 10 cities, including Cudahy, Oak creek, and Hales Corners. Police said at times speeds reached more than 100 miles per hour.
It ended in West Allis when police used a spike strip deflating the tires.
"It's just unfortunate that people just don't have any regard for life, and that's the part that really bothers me. You could've just stopped," said Baumann.
Waukesha police say long pursuits like this happen typically happen on the interstate, not city streets. They are grateful that no one involved was seriously hurt.
They added the help from Milwaukee Police and neighboring cities was critical.
"The amount of resources they gave us was awesome. They treated our officer as if he was one of their own that got run over by a vehicle, and they weren’t going to stop until we were able to ever had this dangerous violent criminal," said Baumann.
Waukesha Police have not identified the suspect since he has not been charged.
