'Gonna have a hazard:' Man accused of dropping gravel from dump truck to elude pursuing deputies
Theodore Tamminga
DODGE COUNTY -- A man is facing some serious charges after fleeing from police in a dump truck. He wasn't able to get away but video from the pursuit shows he used just about everything in the truck to get away.
"I seen a dump truck coming from that way, laying on his horn the whole way, never stopped," said Joe Regnergus, who witnessed the chase.
Regnergus said he saw the truck as it headed toward Beaver Dam on Wednesday, March 21.
The sheriff's office said they learned about the truck when 34-year-old Theodore Tamminga's father called police to report a dispute with his son.
"One of the family members reported that the individual involved -- the suspect -- had left the scene in a full-size dump truck with a plow on the front," said Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt.
Dodge County dump truck pursuit
The deputy caught up to Tamminga as he continued back the other way on Highway G.
Joe Regnergus
"I heard sirens so we looked out the window and here come two cop cars and the dump truck," Regnerus said.
As Tamminga drove past Regnerus' home, with the bed raised, he dumped his load.
"Everything came out the back and just completely covered the road. You couldn't see any pavement," said Regnerus.
The deputy can be heard on his body camera recorded saying, "We are gonna have a hazard. I'm attempting to get through it."
Dodge County dump truck pursuit
Dodge County dump truck pursuit
The deputies navigated through the gravel and stayed on Tamminga's tail.
The pursuit continued west on County Highway G into Columbia County.
The criminal complaint says the deputies thought Tamminga was on drugs; as they tried to arrest him, he "would cry and sob, then laugh hysterically before yelling out obscenities and stating that he was 'Terrible Ted.'"
Dodge County dump truck pursuit
The complaint says Tamminga's BAC was .13. He is currently being held in the Dodge county Jail on a $50,000 bond.
He is charged with the following:
The body camera video provided by the sheriff's office cuts off the time the truck crashed and did not include video of the arrest.