Woman leads cops on slow chase through Port Tuesday

A slow chase early Tuesday morning had police from Port Washington and Saukville as well as deputies from the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office following a 31-year-old woman who obeyed the speed limit and stop signs as she traveled from Saukville through Port Washington.

The woman was able to evade authorities who used stop sticks to deflate one of the tires on her Toyota Corolla and tried to box her vehicle in as the chase continued.

When the woman was finally stopped in a Town of Port Washington driveway off Towhee Trail about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, she was on the phone with an Ozaukee County dispatcher after calling 911, according to Lt. Wayne Lambrecht of the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

“It seemed like she wasn’t coherent,” he said, and that may be why she didn’t stop for officers. “It was apparent there may have been some mental health issues involved.” 

The chase, Lambrecht said, actually began in West Bend, where police went to check on a woman who was slumped over the wheel of her vehicle but drove off when officers approached her.

The West Bend officers terminated their pursuit but notified other agencies of the incident, Lambrecht said. 

During the West Bend pursuit, he said, the driver called 911 and authorities determined she may have mental health issues.

About 5:15 a.m., a Saukville police officer saw the silver Corolla in the Walmart parking lot and tried to stop it as the driver headed east on Highway 33, he said.

Eventually, Port Washington police officers and Ozaukee County deputies joined the chase, which headed into Port Washington on Highway 33, then went north on Wisconsin Street before winding through city streets and into the Town of Port.

She drove onto Norport Drive, which is a dead end at its eastern point, and pulled into a driveway where authorities arrested her, Lambrecht said.

Along the chase, officers deployed stop strips twice, Lambrecht said, adding the driver was able to avoid them on one occasion. Even though one tire deflated during the other occasion, the car continued down the road. 

 At one point, Lambrecht said, the woman made a U-turn and drove around the squad cars.

“She was stopping at stop signs and obeying the speed limit,” he said. “She wasn’t putting her life in danger.”

While deputies typically try to avoid chases, Lambrecht said, “the officers felt it best to get her off the road to where she could get help.”

Ozaukee County authorities are expected to seek a felony charge of failure to yield for an emergency vehicle against the women, Lambrecht said, adding the woman was turned over to West Bend police