Man charged in I-43 construction zone chase

A 40-year-old man suspected of stealing tools from the Grafton Home Depot store is charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with leading police on a midday, high-speed chase through the I-43 construction zone last week.

Milwaukee resident Josean R. Quinones Marcial hit speeds of 114 mph as he sped south on the section of freeway south of Grafton that is being reconstructed just after noon on Wednesday Aug. 10, weaving in and out of traffic, attempting to use other vehicles to put distance between him and the squad cars pursuing him, driving on the shoulder and hitting a construction barrel, according to a criminal complaint charging him with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempting to flee an officer and retail theft, all felonies.

Quinones Marcial, who told police he used heroin hours before the chase, was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, the complaint states.

The 2009 Honda CR-V Quinones Marcial was driving hit tire spikes deployed by officers in a gap in the construction zone, but he continued to speed south.

His vehicle was found abandoned and locked on I-43 at Donges Bay Road. Inside the vehicle, officers saw Makita and Milwaukee power tools, many with security tags still on them, that matched the description of those stolen from Home Depot.

Also found in the vehicles were items commonly used to inject heroin, including used syringes, bloody napkins, a tourniquet and cotton balls, according to the complaint.

The Cedarburg Police Department dog Ranger found Quinones Marcial’s baseball hat off Port Washington Road in Mequon not far from where he left his vehicle and, at 3:15 p.m., a Mequon police officer found him leaning against a construction sign on Mequon Road.

The chase started shortly after a Home Depot loss prevention officer called police to report that a man driving a light blue CR-V without license plates, who was later identified as Quinones Marcial, walked out of the store with $1,060 worth of power tools.

A Grafton police office saw Quinones Marcial driving out of the parking lot and activated his emergency lights and siren. That is when Quinones Marcial sped away.

When interviewed by police after his arrest, Quinones Marcial initially denied he stole the tools and insisted that a man recorded on surveillance video stealing the tools was not him, even though the man in the video was wearing the same clothes as him and had the same tattoos.

Later, however, he told authorities he stole the tools because he needed money to pay rent and buy heroin, adding that he had used drugs at 7 a.m. the day of the chase, the complaint states.

Quinones Marcial is being held in the Ozaukee County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.