Town of Lyons man charged in connection with weekend chase

BURLINGTON (WITI) -- Officials in Racine County have charged a 25-year-old Town of Lyons man in connection with a high speed chase that occurred over the weekend.

Matthew Kendall faces one count of attempting to flee or elude a traffic officer, one count of operating a motor vehicle while revoked (OWI related) and one count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (third offense).

A criminal complaint in the case says a Burlington police officer was on patrol on Sunday, November 10th when he observed a car pass in front of his squad, traveling southbound on Milwaukee Avenue in Burlington.

The complaint says the officer recognized the driver as Kendall, and realized Kendall does not have driving privileges.

The officer continued to follow the vehicle westbound onto Amanda Street and then it turned southbound onto Conkey Street.

The vehicle then began to speed up in a 25 MPH zone to approximately 35 MPH, according to the complaint in the case.

The complaint says as soon as the officer became aware of confirmation that the driver’s license was revoked, the officer initiated the emergency lights and siren on his vehicle.

The vehicle then continued to turn westbound onto State Street and the officer was approximately 200 feet behind the vehicle as it turned northbound onto Kendall and was not pulling over for the emergency lights, according to the complaint.

The vehicle was now up to 40 MPH on Kendall Street when the officer initiated the audible siren as he continued to try to do a traffic stop, according to the complaint.

As the vehicle approached the intersection of Kendall Street and Amanda Street, again in a very residential area, the vehicle failed to stop for the stop sign and was traveling now between 50 and 60 MPH, according to the complaint.

At that point Officer Baumhardt decided to disengage and pulled over to the side of the road so as not to cause hazard for other citizens.

Officials were then searching for a vehicle that had potentially crashed due to high speeds, when they observed Kendall and another man walking down the street, according to the complaint.

The complaint says officials spoke with Kendall who denied that he had been driving but was clearly under the influence of an intoxicant -- according to officials.

Located on Kendall's person was a Hyundai key matching that of the vehicle the officer had seen Kendall driving, according to the complaint.

The vehicle was located a short distance away from where the chase had ended. The vehicle came back registered to Kendall's parents.

The complaint indicates Kendall failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the hospital for a blood draw.

He later admitted he had been driving the vehicle -- but then later denied it, according to the complaint. Kendall admitted to being inside the vehicle, but claimed an unknown person had been driving, according to the complaint.

An examination of Kendall's driving record revealed he was operating while revoked due to a prior OWI conviction, and that he had two prior OWI convictions, according to the complaint.