Two Lincoln County deputies got sprayed with something like bear spray as part of an incident that also involved a high-speed chase Thursday night.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office says a traffic stop was made in the Tomahawk area just after 10:00 p.m. because the plates did not match the vehicle.
The driver gave a false identity, and as the Deputy was investigating, the driver sprayed him in the face with what is believed to have been either bear spray or a highly concentrated pepper spray.
The Deputy was incapacitated, but another deputy chased the suspect southbound on Highway 51 at speeds close to 100 miles an hour.
All four tires were deflated by tire spikes, but the suspect still kept going at over 70 miles an hour.
The suspect wound up on a dead end in the Town of Merrill, where his vehicle became disabled in a yard.
Four Deputies were trying to take the man into custody when another got sprayed.
The other Deputies were able to arrest the suspect as the vehicle he had been driving caught fire, and became fully engulfed.
The Merrill Fire Department put out the fire.
EMS workers helped both deputies who had been sprayed.
The suspect, a 54-year-old man from LaCrosse, was booked into the Lincoln County Jail.
