Waukesha stolen car, chase; 10-mile pursuit began in New Berlin
Edgar Ponce
NEW BERLIN, Wis. - A Waukesha man is accused of stealing a vehicle and then leading police on a chase that stretched more than ten miles. The accused is 32-year-old Edgar Ponce – and he faces the following criminal counts;
- Attempting to flee or elude an officer
- Second-degree recklessly endangering safety
- Operating a motor vehicle without owner's consent
- Misdemeanor bail jumping
According to the criminal complaint, a New Berlin police officer spotted a vehicle late on Saturday, Nov. 2 that was traveling under the speed limit on eastbound Greenfield Avenue. The officer "saw the vehicle break the center line on Greenfield Avenue at speeds between 29 and 33 mph in a 40 mph zone," the complaint says. The officer thought the driving behavior was "suspicious and believed that the operator was either lost, having a medical emergency or was impaired," the complaint says.
The complaint says the officer activated his lights and siren to conduct a traffic stop on Mooreland Road just north of Greenfield Avenue. "The driver made an abnormal stop and pulled, making a hard turn directly at the curbside before straightening out the vehicle," the complaint says.
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When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver "put both of his hands in the air and slurred the phrase, 'I'm sorry,'" the complaint says. When the officer ordered the driver to put the car in park, the driver, "put his hand back onto the parking brake, lowered the lever, and drove northbound on Moorland Road from the traffic stop," the complaint says.
The driver was later identified as the defendant, Edgar Ponce. During that brief interaction with Ponce, the officer "observed the defendant's eyes were glossy, the defendant's speech was slurred and there was a slight odor of intoxicants," the complaint says.
It was shortly after midnight when the driver pulled away from the traffic stop. A police chase ensued -- and the defendant was "going about 100 mph." At some point, the defendant turned off the lights on his vehicle. At that point, police asked for assistance -- and requested a stop stick tire deflation device.
Later on Bluemound Road, another officer "estimated that the defendant was driving at speeds between 90-110 mph," where the speed limit is 45 mph. The complaint says when the defendant approached Calhoun Road, he "did not even touch the brake lights and failed to stop for the red traffic signal, continuing through the lights at a high rate of speed, westbound on Bluemound Road."
Later, while on Les Paul Parkway, an officer attempted a PIT maneuver on the defendant's vehicle. When the defendant's vehicle came to a stop, the complaint says an officer used his squad to block the defendant's vehicle so he could not continue to flee. The complaint says Ponce "immediately got out of his car and was walking toward the rear of his vehicle." The defendant was not obeying commands from police, the complaint says. But the defendant was eventually taken into custody.
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The criminal complaint notes the police chase stretched more than ten-and-a-half miles.
A Waukesha police officer who arrived on the scene recognized the defendant from a previous domestic violence incident in May. The officer, while at the hospital, "heard the defendant say something to the effect of, 'I had to reason to take the car,'" the complaint says.
Ponce made his initial appearance in Waukesha County court on Monday, Nov. 4. Cash bond was set at $50,000.