APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – A 36-year-old Medford man is being guarded by Appleton Police at a local hospital after they say he nearly died while fleeing officers.
At 8:15 am Tuesday, Sergeant Dave Lund says a lieutenant saw a disturbance in progress in a parking lot near the intersection of North Richmond Street and West Wisconsin Avenue.
When the officer turned into the lot to investigate, Lund says the man ran from a vehicle, climbed a fence, and disappeared into a residential area.
Officers set up a perimeter and learned there was a felony warrant out for the man’s arrest.
Soon after, Lund says a city employee told officers that he had heard yelling from the collection area of his recycling truck, stopped the vehicle, and watched the man crawl out of the hopper to again flee.
Lund believes the man was hiding in the recycling dumpster at a local business.
Officers checked the area and found the man in a nearby yard.
Lund says the man hopped another fence but collapsed in the next yard.
The man was taken to the hospital with a serious head injury, which officers believe was suffered when he was dumped into the recycling truck.
“It looked like he had struck his head either on the hopper area of the vehicle or something within the vehicle. He is very lucky that none of the other mechanics were engaged, nothing to crush or compress the load that had just been dumped.”
Once the man is given medical clearance, Lund says he will be taken to the Outagamie County Jail.
In addition to the felony warrant, Lund says charges of Obstructing an Officer will be requested, with more charges possible in the future since an Appleton officer was injured during the pursuit.
“(The officer was) going through the yard and stepped on a board that had a nail coming out of it. The nail went through that officer’s shoe and into their foot.”
Lund notes that officer was treated at the hospital and later released.
