A 24-year-old kidnapping suspect was killed in a crash just before 4:30 Tuesday afternoon, as he attempted to elude officers on Cty. W near Center Rd. in the town of Pine River.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Wisconsin crime alert was put out for a 24-year-old male, who had taken his three-week-old daughter. According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, there was a valid court order giving custody of the girl to Taylor County Human Services, as she was born drug dependant and is in need of medical care.
Agents from the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations located the vehicle, and when they attempted to stop it, the suspect attempted to elude officers. The man lost control of his vehicle and struck a car, then went off the road.
He was not wearing his safety belt and was killed in the crash. An 18-year-old female passenger and the three-week-old infant were not seriously injured. They were transported to Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center in Merrill.
The Wisconsin State Patrol is investigating the crash. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office is doing a crash reconstruction.
Assisting agencies included the sheriff’s offices of Marathon and Lincoln counties, Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations, Pine River first responders and Merrill EMS.
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UPDATE: The following information was released by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday afternoon.
On Sept. 17, at approximately 4:23 p.m., the Lincoln County dispatch center received notification from the Marathon County Sheriff that there was a vehicle pursuit in progress traveling northbound on Cty. W approaching Lincoln County. Lincoln County deputies were dispatched to the area to assist with the pursuit.
Shortly after the pursuit entered Lincoln County, the vehicle being pursued went out of control, striking another car and then crashing into the ditch.
During the crash, the driver of the vehicle, 24-year-old Justin Eichelt of the Village of Lublin in Taylor County was ejected from the vehicle and was killed as a result of his injuries. The two passengers in the vehicle, 18-year-old Amber Kubitz of Weston and a child, were transported by Lincoln County EMS with unknown injuries.
Lincoln County deputies assisted at the scene of the crash. The crash is being investigated by the Wisconsin State Patrol, and reconstructed by the Marathon County Sheriff. Pine River Fire Department assisted with traffic control for the duration of the investigation.