DeKalb man arrested following police pursuit from Wisconsin to McHenry County

A DeKalb man has been arrested following a police pursuit that authorities said started in Caledonia, Wisconsin, and ended with a stolen car abandoned on Interstate 90 in McHenry County.

Michael Hoffman, 36, was charged in Columbia County, Wisconsin, with taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and theft of movable property, according to a news release from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office July 29 via its Facebook page.

The incident started about 4 a.m. July 24 when the sheriff’s office dispatch center received an automated 911 call from a cellphone’s crash detection sensor. The phone pinged to I-90/94/39 near the 108-mile marker, but an officer sent to the location did not find a crash, according to the sheriff’s office.

About 4:22 a.m., a woman called 911 from a Days Inn motel in Caledonia. She told dispatchers that an acquaintance stole her vehicle, taking her phone and money before throwing the phone out of the vehicle, which caused the automated crash report, police said.

The woman told officials she did not know the suspect’s full identity, but Columbia County detectives were able to identify him, learning he was from the DeKalb area. Officials put out an “attempt to locate” request to agencies around the region for the stolen vehicle and Hoffman, according to the sheriff’s office.

About 5 a.m. near Janesville, Wisconsin, a state trooper located the stolen vehicle and, with the assistance of Janesville police, stopped the vehicle. The suspect was noncompliant, according to the sheriff’s office. After a short standoff, Hoffman again fled in the vehicle. The ensuing pursuit ended on I-90/39 before the vehicle crossed into Illinois.

A short time later in Illinois, the South Beloit Police Department located the suspect vehicle and tried to stop it, but the driver continued to flee southbound on I-90/39 toward Rockford, authorities said. Those officers pursued the vehicle for about 20 miles before ending the pursuit east of Rockford.

About 7:30 a.m., the Illinois State Police reported officers had found the vehicle abandoned on I-90 in McHenry County. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police searched the area with a K-9 team but were unable to find Hoffman, and Wisconsin officials said they put out a warrant for his arrest.

Hoffman was taken into custody by the DeKalb Police Department on July 28 and was being held in Winnebago County Jail in Rockford on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and aggravated fleeing police there, according to online court records.

Columbia County sought Hoffman’s extradition to Wisconsin to appear on the charges there, according to the release.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office thanked the Wisconsin State Patrol, Janesville Police Department, Rock County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, South Beloit Police Department, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and DeKalb Police Department for their assistance.