WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Police say a 52-year-old guy from Fox Point led them on a miles-long chase before they caught up with him and arrested him. The person being accused is Darby Costello, and he is being charged with the following crimes:
Second-degree putting safety at risk without thinking
Using a car to escape or try to get away from a police officer
bail jumping is a felony on four counts.
During early Sunday morning patrol in West Allis, on Nov. 24, a police officer was told about a FLOCK alert for a car being driven by Darby Costello, the defendant, “who had multiple felony warrants for his arrest,” the lawsuit says.
The police officer found the car as it crossed W. Lincoln Avenue going south on S. 63rd Street. The officer then put his squad behind the defendant’s car and turned on the lights and horn. The lawsuit says that the “defendant did not pull over but continued to drive at normal speeds.” “The defendant then turned south onto S. 68th Street and sped up until he reached 90 miles per hour,” the lawsuit says.
According to court records, the West Allis cop chased the defendant “as he sped up and ran several red lights.” The suspect changed lanes on Highway 36 to go south while cops were chasing him. “The officer saw two oncoming lights that had to move out of the way because the defendant’s car was going too fast against oncoming traffic on Highway 36 while going the wrong way,” the complaint says.
The West Allis cop “performed a PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique) maneuver, which spun the defendant out, with his car coming to a stop,” the complaint says. A sheriff’s deputy in Racine County was also able to use stop sticks. He or she was then taken into prison. According to court documents, the chase went on for more than 17 miles and hit speeds of more than 115 miles per hour.
The criminal charge says that the defendant said this while being arrested: “It was fun, right?” I’m going to get 200 years in prison, so I might as well have fun with it, right?”
Costello went to court for the first time in Milwaukee County on November 27, 2013. The cash bond was set at $50,000.
