5 teens taken into custody, accused of leading police on pursuit in stolen vehicle

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Five of six teenagers are in police custody, accused of leading officers on a chase through several cities and counties in a vehicle stolen out of Racine.

FOX6 News was told most of the teenagers are from Milwaukee.

They were originally stopped because the wrong license plates were displayed on the car, but soon began a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring them to a stop.

"Any individual agency really has to weigh what their (pursuit) procedures are," said Captain Martin Schulteis with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Washington County Sheriff's Office

Washington County authorities said a number of factors were discussed before a decision was made to proceed with the pursuit.

"The inclination was that this vehicle did not belong to them and that's exactly what occurred," said Captain Schulteis.

A Washington County deputy located the car and tried to get the driver to stop but they continued to flee on I-41. Deputies and police attempted to get the car to stop by deflating the tires, but the pursuit continued into the Village of Germantown. There, police deployed deflation spikes, bringing the car to a stop in a ditch on the Pilgrim Road off-ramp in Menomonee Falls.

Some learning of the pursuit Thursday said they were relieved to hear no one was injured, especially after Wednesday's snow storm.

"You have unskilled drivers at the wheel at high speeds in bad weather, it doubles the chances of accidents," said a Richfield resident.

Four out of six suspects ran from the car after the pursuit ended, and a foot chase then ensued.

"We took five of the six into police custody and are trying to determine who was seated where," said Schulteis.

The investigation is ongoing.

Police are trying to sort out what other local charges the teens could be facing.

The search continues for the sixth teen.