Star Journal Staff

A Michigan man led several law enforcement officers on a high speed chase Sunday night, beginning at Walmart in Rhinelander and ending in a wooded area on Highway 17 in Vilas County.

The Rhinelander Police Department reports the agency responded to a shoplifting complaint at Walmart around 7:42 p.m. The suspect fled before officers arrived; the driver was pursued by a Rhinelander officer north on Highway 17 and was joined by an Oneida County deputy and eventually a Vilas County deputy who deployed a tire deflation device on the highway. When the driver attempted to get around the stop at a high rate of speed, the Rhinelander Police Department said the vehicle crashed into a wooded area.

The suspect, Kevin A. Block, 47, was transported to Ascension Hospital in Eagle River and later airlifted to Aspirus Hospital in Wausau where he reportedly remains under guard by law enforcement.  According to the police, Block is wanted on a nationwide extraditable warrant for the state of Michigan. Criminal charges are expected to be referred to the Oneida County district attorney.