Back-to-Back Pursuits End with 2 Officers Injured, 2 Arrested

SUPERIOR, Wis.– Two arrests, two pursuits, and two police departments. Duluth and Superior officers were taken on wild chases Wednesday. One of which, injured officers and created a mess of damage through a Superior neighborhood.

“We apprehend violent people every day and it doesn’t always turn out this way so it doesn’t always make the news but we are out here every day apprehending people similar to this,” said Bradley Jago, Public Information Officer for the Superior Police Department.

The two injured officers are okay and out of the hospital but the dangers were very real today for Duluth and Superior police on a pair of back-to-back unrelated chases in the Twin Ports.

Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, Superior Police tried to apprehend a suspect in the 2000 block of Hammond Avenue, resulting in property damage, and a lot more.

Superior and Duluth Police officers attempted to arrest a man with multiple felony warrants. He tried to flee in a motor vehicle, in the process ripping through a fence and garage. Along with causing damage to not only cars in the alley but also to police vehicles.

“It was struck in the front passenger side of the vehicle and it’s currently not able to be used,” said Jago.

Two Duluth Police officers were injured in all of this. One was taking cover behind the garage as it was hit and the other was in a squad car. Both were checked out a hospital and released with minor injuries.

“As you can see by the carnage of this scene,” said Jago. “It’s unknown anytime we go to apprehend somebody what they will resort to in order to get away from us.”

The chase went across the bridge where the pursuit ended near 40th avenue west and I-35 in Duluth. The driver was arrested for multiple felony warrants including possession of meth and cocaine, along with sale of cocaine.

“Thankfully, a pursuit of this magnitude is incredibly rare in our community and this situation is still a big deal for our community,” said Jago.

But the day wasn’t over just yet. As officers made their way back to Superior, a separate chase ensued as police tried to do a traffic stop on the 600 block of Grand Avenue. The driver eventually abandoned the vehicle in front of Superior high school. He was arrested soon after.

“The job is never the same from day to day, it literally goes from a slow day to an incredibly busy day,” said Jago. “This just goes to show the level of danger that this job holds and the level of danger that exists in our community that otherwise would go unnoticed until a major incident like this exists.”