Man’s speed test earns him a swift trip to prison

A 27-year-old man who said he just wanted to see how fast his Hyundai Sonata could go after he blew by a sheriff’s deputy at more than 130 mph and led officers on a chase through Ozaukee County and into Sheboygan County in 2025 was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week.

After he was finally caught and asked by officers how fast he thought he was going,  Milwaukee resident Demitrius D. Nelson said, “I don’t think the speedometer goes that high,” according to a criminal complaint. “Honestly, I just wanted to see how fast the Sonata would go.”

During a Oct. 19 hearing, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Sandy Williams also sentenced Nelson, who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of fleeing an officer, to 18 months of extended supervision following his incarceration.

A felony charge of second-degree recklessly endangering safety was dismissed as part of a plea agreement but read into the record, which means Williams could consider the facts surrounding that charge when sentencing Nelson.

The chase dates to Friday, March 21, 2025, when at 12:30 a.m., deputies Michael Zilke and Jacob Reuteler, who were in a turnaround on I-43 near Highway 33 in Saukville, saw a northbound car that appeared to be traveling at twice the speed of another vehicle on the freeway. The car passed the deputies at such a high rate of speed that it shook Zilke’s patrol SUV.

Zilke chased the car and was able to identify it based on its taillights as a relatively new Hyundai Sonata before it sped away from him.

Ozaukee Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Kickhaver was at Highway H and I-43 in the Town of Port Washington and started chasing the car when it passed him. But even with Kickhaver going 130 mph, the car continued to pull away and, knowing he wasn’t going to catch the vehicle, the deputy radioed the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department for help.

The driver of the car, later identified as Nelson, apparently exited the freeway and was stopped by Sheboygan County deputies, but then fled again.

Deputies stopped Nelson again, and this time Ozaukee County deputies assisted with the high-risk stop near Highway D and Knepprath Road just west of Cedar Grove. But when Nelson was ordered to get out of the car, he shouted back, then drove away heading west on Highway D, the complaint states.

Eventually Nelson drove over tire spikes and was stopped. He was removed from his car “with the assistance of a taser” and Kickhaver’s K-9 partner Odin, according to the complaint.

When asked if he saw the deputies parked in the I-43 turnaround in Saukville, Nelson said, “Oh yeah I did. When I saw you, it was definitely a bit of a challenge. I was like, ‘I want to see how fast I can go,’” the complaint states.

After Nelson said he believed he maxed out the Sonata’s speedometer, deputies asked him how high the speedometer went. “Probably 145,” Nelson responded.

According to Car and Driver, the Hyundai Sonata N Line 290-horsepower, turbo-charged model has an estimated top speed of 155 mph.

Zilke reviewed video from his dash camera and confirmed that Nelson passed five vehicles on I-43 between highways 33 and D during the chase.

Nelson was also charged in Sheboygan County in connection with the chase and in April pleaded no contest to a felony charge of fleeing an officer and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

Sheboygan County Circuit Judge Natasha Torry sentenced Nelson to two years in prison and two years of extended supervision on the felony charge but stayed the sentence and placed him on probation for three years, according to court records.