- Wednesday afternoon, a high-speed chase turned deadly in Grand Chute.
- Thursday, bystanders of the scene of the crash shared what they heard and saw.
- The chase and crash are under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is standard procedure for an incident involving a death.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
We told you Wednesday about a deadly chase that began with a reported retail theft and ended in a crash.
Now, we're learning more of what bystanders heard and saw.
“We get a lot of traffic. There's a lot of noise out here, but this was definitely out of the ordinary,” said Tim Shandonay.
Just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Grand Chute Police say they got a call about a retail theft at Fleet Farm.
They say that's when officers arrived. They approached the male suspect, and he ran.
Police say he got in a car, and after a high-speed chase, the suspect lost control about two blocks away.
They say he hit a car that had two other people, and then he careened into a tree, where he died.
The others who were hit were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“That was about three houses down from where we are,” Shandonay said, showing the distance between the crash and where he was standing when he saw it.
I visited the area and met several people who shared what they heard the next day. One of those bystanders was Shandonay.
He says he was working in his office when he suddenly heard a loud sound.
“There's a recycling company down the road. So, there's a lot of truck activity here because of that, and when they’re empty, they hit a couple of bumps on the road there. There's a loud bang once in a while, but this was definitely a lot louder than that,” he said.
Shandonay says what he saw looked serious.
“I looked out the window and saw the vehicle in the intersection in a big debris field. Knowing that, OK, something- something really must have happened,” he said.
Another worker in the area who was not available to appear on camera says he has been working on the street for ten years and he's only seen two accidents in that time. But he says this was the first deadly one.
I also spoke to a man who lived at the house the car would have hit if there had not been a tree in its path.
That neighbor didn't want to give an interview, but he said it was very upsetting and scary, even though he was not home at the time.
The Department of Justice is investigating the chase and the crash.
Investigation by an outside law enforcement agency is standard procedure when a death is involved.
We will keep you updated as we learn more.
