Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Tuesday, April 22, 2008
100 mph chase ends in crash; Driver nabbed by K-9 unit running across Interstate Bridge
 The Central United Methodist Church sign was smashed early Monday morning by a car involved in a high-speed chase with police. The driver, Douglas John Ratz of Fountain City, Wis., was apprehended on the Interstate Bridge shortly after the accident. (Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
After a pursuit through downtown that reached speeds of 100 mph, a mile-long police chase ended early Monday on Broadway when a 21-year-old driver crashed into the side of a church, police said.
Apparently uninjured by the collision, Douglas John Ratz continued to elude police by running for the Wisconsin border over the Interstate Bridge, according to police reports. He eventually surrendered when confronted by the Winona County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit.
The Fountain City, Wis., man remained in custody Monday and was referred to the county attorney’s office for charges of drunken driving, fleeing police, disobeying a stop sign and reckless driving.
According to the police reports:
At about 12:20 a.m. Monday, Ratz approached an officer at the intersection of Broadway and Mankato Avenue “at a high rate of speed.” Without fully stopping at a stop sign, Ratz turned south onto Mankato, nearly colliding with the officer, who had to swerve his car to avoid being struck. The officer made a U-turn and attempted to pull Ratz over.
Ratz accelerated quickly and made a series of turns putting him westbound on Broadway, where he failed to stop at one more stop sign, the officer observed.
The officer continued to follow Ratz, traveling 90 to 100 mph along Broadway without gaining any ground. The officer gave up the pursuit when Ratz drove through a red light at the intersection of Broadway and Franklin streets.
Ratz continued along Broadway and apparently tried to make a right turn onto Main Street but careened through a boulevard and plowed into the east wall of Central United Methodist Church. The church itself was not heavily damaged, but a sign there was destroyed.
When officers arrived at the scene of the crash, they suspected Ratz had been thrown from his vehicle but were unable to find him. At 12:30 a.m., police received a report of a man running in the traffic lane of the Interstate Bridge toward Wisconsin. Equipped with Ratz’s scent from the crash scene, deputy Chris Cichosz and police dog Blitz arrived on the bridge moments later to find their suspect had changed directions and was running back to Winona. When given several commands to stop or face the jaws of Blitz, Ratz laid facedown on the pavement and was taken into custody, said Chief Deputy Ron Ganrude.
Ratz will likely be charged and appear in Winona County District Court today.
Contact Kevin Behr at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
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