Hartford police: 5 in custody after shoplifting incident leads to police pursuit

HARTFORD -- Hartford police say five people are in custody following a shoplifting incident that led to a police pursuit early Wednesday, September 27th. The suspects, all from Milwaukee, range in age from 14 to 19 years old.

Officials say officers were dispatched to the Hartford Walmart shortly before 2:00 a.m. for a report of a retail theft in progress. Those suspects left the store prior to the officers' arrival.

Officers saw the suspects' vehicle on W. Sumner St. and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop and a pursuit was initiated.

A short time later, the suspects were headed eastbound Highway 60 at County CC and struck a tire deflation device deployed by the Slinger Police Department. At least one of the vehicle's tires were deflated in this attempt, but the driver refused to stop. The suspects avoided a second set of stop sticks at Highway 60 and Highway 175.

Eventually, the suspects headed southbound on Highway 41 until the Washington County Sheriff's Office was able to deploy tire deflation devices at Highway 41 and Highway 45. Officials say the vehicle drove a short distance on its rims until it was disabled near the Mequon Rd. off-ramp.

The five suspects were taken into custody without further incident -- and nobody was hurt.

The investigation led to the recovery of multiple stolen Walmart sound bars and televisions that the suspects threw from their vehicle while fleeing from officers. A loaded handgun, reported stolen in Milwaukee, was also recovered from the suspects' vehicle.

Criminal charges of felony eluding, retail theft, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of stolen property have been referred to the Washington County District Attorney's Office.