- Pawn America opened at its normal time on Sunday
- Police shot at a stolen squad car in the pawnshop's parking lot on Saturday, hitting a suspect
- The suspect injured a Grand Chute police as he backed into an officer's vehicle
- The suspect carjacked a vehicle in Appleton, fled onto Interstate 41 and was caught in Brown County
GRAND CHUTE -Police shot and wounded a man Saturday night after a routine shoplifting callled to the theft of a police car, a carjacking of a second vehicle and a high-speed chase on Interstate 41.
A Grand Chute police officer was injured in the 6:30 p.m. incident, which at one point saw a suspect flee in a taxi.Both suspects were ultimatelyarrested.
Police on Sunday said there is no further danger to the public but offered few other new details on the incident.
"All involved individuals have been identified and are in custody," Appleton police saidin a press release Sunday morning. "There is no further public threat related to those individuals."
Pawn America, 500 N. Westhill Blvd.,opened as usual at10 a.m. Sunday, about 15 hours after a retail theft suspect stole a Grand Chute police car that was then shot at by officers in the store's parking lot.
None of the employees working at Pawn America on Sunday were present during the Saturday shooting. Manager Shaun Rice said a note found in the store's office Sunday morningsaid that the incident was "something in the parking lot that had nothing to do with us."
"We're cooperating with police fully," he said as customers enteredthe store.
On Saturday, a Grand Chute police officer arrived at Pawn Americaat about 6:30 p.m. to check on two retail theft suspects.
When a Grand Chute police supervisor arrived, the interaction "started to go very bad," according toAppleton Police Sgt. Dave Lund at a press conferenceSaturday night.The officer was "not getting cooperation from the two individuals," and asked for a supervisorto help investigate, Lund said.
One person,a36-year-old man, became combative, and got access to one of thesquad cars.A fightensued as officers attempted to get the manaway from the vehicle,Lund said.
The manfreed himselfand put the squad car —with a police doginside —in gear.He backed into the other parkedsquad car,injuring thepolice supervisor, Lund said.
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The man then fled in the squad car as additional Grand Chute officers arrived.
Lund saidofficers believed an officer was "down", or had been shot, so theyfired multiple shots at the squad car as it left the parkinglot. The 36-year-old was wounded.Lund was unsure of the severity of his injuries orhow many times he was struck.
It wasunclear Sunday how many officers fired their weapons, how many shots were fired and whether any shell casings were recovered.Jason Adrians, editor and news director of The Post-Crescent, reported hearing about seven or eight gunshots from the parking lot of Marcus Hollywood Cinemaacross the street from Pawn America.
The 36-year-old then fled to Fourth Street and Outagamie Street in Appleton, left the squad car and carjacked avehicle from a woman. The woman, who was not hurt, was left at that location as the manfled in her vehicle. The police dogwas found uninjured inside the squad car.
Lund said the man fled the area, drove onto Interstate 41 and was later stopped by the Brown County Sheriff's Office about 7:20 p.m. near Freedom Road after a three-mile chase. He was taken into custody and brought to a hospital for treatment, Lund said.
Brown County Sheriff's Office Lt. Kevin Pawlak told multiple media outletsSaturday night that deputies began chasing the 36-year-old on Interstate 41 at Outagamie County U. Pawlak said the 36-year-old, traveling at more than 100 mph, lost control at Freedom Road and was arrested after he ran from the scene.
“We were just very happy, very lucky that he surrendered," Pawlak told WBAY.
The other suspect, a 25-year-old man, "snuck away" from Pawn America during the confrontation and tried to return to the Manitowoc area, Lund said. The 25-year-old went to a nearby restaurant and called a cab.
The Calumet County Sheriff'sOffice later took the man into custody as he was in a cab in thatcounty.
Post-Crescent Facebookreaders expressed opinionsand debatedcrime and safety in the Appleton area following Saturday's events.Sam Keslersaid Appleton "is still a very safe place to live and raise a family." Joe Kilgas thanked officers for "keeping everyone safe."
"Glad no one perished," said Cody Jaymes Garvin. "But what has been happening to the Fox Cities over the last two years!?!?"
Appleton police are investigating thePawn America incident and the carjacking.The Wisconsin State Patrol and Outagamie County Sheriff's Department are assisting.
Ethan Safran: 920-996-7267, or esafran@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @EthanSafran
