KIMBERLY, WI (WTAQ) – One man is in custody after leading Fox Valley Metro Police on a short high-speed pursuit Monday night.
Around 9:30 p.m., an officer observed a vehicle going over 100 miles per hour on South Washington Street near East Kennedy Avenue in the Village of Kimberly. The posted speed limit in that area is 25 miles per hour.
“The driver was impaired. I don’t know if there were any other contributing factors other than the impairment to have the vehicle operator driving at that speed,” says Lieutenant Mark Wery, “That stretch of roadway is only a couple miles long, so from initially seeing the vehicle operator and these violations to when the vehicle ultimately left the roadway and crashed is only a few miles.”
Out of concern for the wellbeing of the occupants of that vehicle – as well as other people on the road – the officer attempted to make a traffic stop. The officer was forced to pursue due to the excessive speed and evasive driving maneuvers made by the driver.
“Given the length and the ability that the officer was able to close some of that distance and get a little bit closer to the violator with full emergency lights and sirens active – we believe it was likely the operator would have known the officer was behind him,” Wery tells WTAQ News, “Initially the officer was just trying to make his presence known, and if the vehicle operator were to yield to the officer – that’s the desired outcome. But in this case it ended in a crash into a garage of a residence.”
The vehicle crossed the community bridge into the Village of Little Chute at approximately 108mph; failing to obey traffic signals, unsafely passing other vehicles and driving on the wrong side of the roadway.
The driver eventually failed to negotiate a T-intersection at the intersection of Madison Street and W. North Avenue – and crashed into an empty garage.
28-year old Payton Meloy of Hortonville was arrested on recommended charges of Felony Eluding an Officer, First Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety, Possession of Methamphetamine, Operating While Intoxicated with a Restricted Controlled Substance, and a probation violation.
