DAKOTA, Minn. – State troopers arrested a man on Interstate 90 who reportedly had driven off with a full tank of gas without paying in far southwest Wisconsin and then led police on on a chase to LaCrosse and then into Minnesota on I-90. Roads were icy, and Wisconsin police had backed off the chase several times. The driver was stopped finally by a police spike strip laid in his path on I-90. Arrested was Demandre Andrew-Tyshann Frazier, 26, whose driving license had a Las Vegas, Nevada, address. He was booked at the Winona jail and held for extradition to Wisconsin. In his vehicle, a white U-Haul van, police said they found “a large amount” of marijuana. After the arrest Frazier was facing multiple Wisconsin charges stemming from the gas theft in Richland County the day before.
Dangerous chase
Around 9:10 a.m. Vernon County deputies found the suspect’s U-Haul van in the Walmart parking lot in Viroqua. When they tried to make contact, the driver sped off on north on Highway 14. The pursuit continued along the highway and secondary roads with deputies hoping the driver would slow down in Westby. He didn’t – and began swerving into oncoming traffic. For safety reasons the deputies pulled back but restarted the pursuit on the other side if of town. They gave up again for reasons of safety as they approached the LaCrosse city limits – 75 miles from the gas drive-off. A number of vehicles were forced off the road due to the Frazier’s driving, deputies said. No one was injured.
Across the Mississippi
Approaching LaCrosse, officers called ahead for other agencies to intercept the van if it entered I-90. There, on the Minnesota side near Dakota, the van was disabled.
The vehicle
Police learned that the van had been stolen in Michigan the day before