GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – An Appleton man is facing more than a dozen charges in connection with a drug-fueled police chase last weekend.
23-year-old Caleb W. Dercks is charged with 10 felonies and 3 misdemeanors, including first-degree recklessly endangering safety, drive or operate vehicle without owner consent, free/eluding police and OWI causing injury.
According to the criminal complaint, a Brown County Sheriff’s deputy saw a car driving on Velp Avenue in Howard around 2 a.m. February 7. The deputy noticed that the vehicle had dark tinted windows and he was unable to see the driver.
The deputy followed the car up onto the ramp of I-41 northbound, while running the license plate of the car. It was registered to a woman whose license had been suspended. Earlier on Saturday, the Neenah Police Department issued an alert saying that the car was taken by a friend and never returned.
At that point, the deputy activated his emergency lights on I-41 at the ramp to Lineville Road. The car sped up at the off-ramp to Lineville Road. A second squad car joined in the pursuit, while the vehicle kept going northbound on I-41. Authorities say the stolen car was going about 103 miles per hour.
At the last second, per the complaint, the stolen car sped down the off-ramp at Sunset Beach Road. The car then stopped in the middle of the intersection at Sunset Beach Rd., which had a green light. It then sped eastbound on Sunset Beach going the wrong-way down the westbound lanes.
The car got to County Highway J, going about 60 miles per hour, went through the stop sign and towards the dead end on Sunset Beach Road. The stolen vehicle then, according to deputies, made a 90 degree turn just passed the boat launch, now driving north towards the dead end.
The vehicle then spun around 180 degrees and went back south past one of the squad cars. It was speeding towards another squad car on a snow and ice covered road, again going the wrong-way at about 65 mph.
The stolen car avoided that deputy, whose squad car would get stuck in a snow bank. Another deputy waiting at the intersection of County Highway J and Sunset Beach Road was unable to get stop sticks out in time. That deputy said the car was back up to 100 miles per hour.
At that point, the stolen car lost control and crashed into a yard on Sunset Beach Road, just west of Highway J. The car had flipped and rested on the passenger side. Deputies ran towards the car with guns drawn, and a pair of hands was seen sticking out of the driver side window.
That suspect, identified as Dercks, was pulled out of the car and handcuffed. A woman was seen laying on the passenger side windows, responsive but confused. Police say she didn’t know where she was or how she had gotten there. Deputies noticed several hypodermic needles inside the car.
The complaint states that the woman admitted to using meth. She was taken to the hospital. Upon inspecting the vehicle, authorities found about 200 packaged hypodermic needles and around 70 hypodermic needles laying around the interior.
The woman admitted to sheriff’s deputies that she last injected meth Saturday afternoon, saying, “That she and Caleb are daily users.” She also said she stole the vehicle from her friend, who was getting arrested for shoplifting in Neenah, “As a place to live since she was homeless.” Caleb was told the car was stolen and allowed him to drive because she believed he had a valid driver’s license.
Caleb drove away from the cops because, as she put it, “He didn’t want to deal with police.”
Dercks was also taken to the hospital for evaluation. Authorities say they saw many, “Open wounds/scabs on his face that indicates methamphetamine use.” He also seemed dazed and confused.
Dercks told deputies that he knew the car was stolen when the girl arrived as his house to pick him up Saturday night. He said he didn’t stop for police, “Because the car was stolen and he had many felony warrants.” Dercks admitted to using meth about 24 hours before the chase, and says he shoots it into a vein in his arm.
Caleb Dercks is familiar with the court system having been charged in November 2014 with possession of drug paraphernalia, February 19, 2015 with receiving stolen property, possession of meth, possession of THC and drug paraphernalia, burglary, March 20, 2015 with felony bail jumping and disorderly conduct, and on May 26, 2015 with felony bail jumping, possession of meth, resisting or obstructing and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Dercks is due back in court on February 18 for an adjourned initial appearance. If convicted on all counts, Dercks faces several dozen years in prison.
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