LEWISTON, Minn. – A 120 mph police chase ended when the pursued vehicle crashed into path of a semi-truck on Interstate 90 and was shoved into a pursing sheriff’s squad car. The driver of the pursued vehicle, a white Jeep Commander, suffered chest injuries and was taken to the Winona hospital. Nobody else was hurt. This was just after midnight. Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude gave this account:
> Wisconsin police radioed about 11:40 p.m. that the Jeep had crossed into Minnesota.
> A Winona County deputy stationed himself to intercept 12 miles ahead at the Highway 43 exit to Winona.
> The Jeep accelerated to 100 mph, then 120 mph.
> The deputy radioed ahead for another officer to lay stop-sticks on the pavement to puncture the Jeep’s tires.
> Ten miles farther at the I-90 exit to Lewiston the Jeep hit the stop sticks.
> With one tire deflated, maybe two, the Jeep slowed and turned into median.
> The pursuing deputy drove into the median to make contact the Jeep, which was still rolling.
> An east-bound semi-truck crashed into the Jeep, crunching it to smithereens and also bumping it into the deputy’s car.
> Carl Adam Haugen, 44, of Crystal, Minnesota, was pulled from the Jeep and taken eight miles to the Winona hospital, his injuries non-life threatening.
> A passenger in the Jeep, Katherine Renee Harper, 32, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, was unhurt.
> The semi driver, Figelio Cambanbia De Jesus, 34, of Blooington,was unhurt.
> Also unhurt was Robert Ervin Bethea, 36, of Winona, the deputy who was still in his squad car as the collision unfolded.
Haugen. In Winona jail awaiting transfer on existing warrant. Also facing Minnesota charges from the chase.
Why the chase?
Haugen told officers that he was aware that a warrant had been out for his arrest and wanted to get away. In Winona he was released from the hospital to and booked at the county jail at 6 a.m. for speeding and fleeing police.
I-90 conditions
Only a day earlier Interstate 90 had been ice-covered and snow-covered. The pavement was clear by the time of the 120-mph case.