Suspect caught after moped chase near the airport

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A suspect was captured Tuesday morning following a chase that began when a Dane Co. Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted her riding a moped along a highway in the Town of Burke, authorities reported in an update.

The Sheriff’s Office said in an update Wednesday that the 37-year-old woman was taken to the Dane County Jail. She faces charges of felony theft and obstructing, as well as a misdemeanor charge of obstructing/resisting.

The deputy spotted and tried to stop the moped on Co. Hwy. CV, near Fieldstone Lane, around 4:45 a.m., the Dane Co. Sheriff’s Office explained. The rider did not stop until she reached a wooded area near the Dane Co. Regional Airport, at which point she took off running, the update continued.

Not long after she ran away, a deputy reported hearing something that sounded like a gunshot.

“In the distance the deputy heard a loud popping sound consistent with a gunshot heard. But the deputy did not believe it was fired in his direction at this time,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett noted during a news conference.

Multiple other agencies descended on the area and set up a perimeter, as a drone and a K9 were deployed to help locate the woman. She was found shortly after 9 a.m., hiding under a small trailer near the Co. Hwy. CV and Wheeler Road intersection and arrested, the Sheriff’s Office stated.

Investigators also believe the woman may be involved in recent thefts. Barrett pointed out that the Sheriff’s Office started receiving reports of burglaries as businesses opened on Tuesday. He added a moped was seen on the surveillance video investigators already reviewed.

They are asking anyone along the highway, near Fieldstone Lane to check their surveillance cameras for the suspect, or any of her alleged accomplices.

Anyone who finds something or has information about the incident is asked to call the Dane Co. Tip Line at 608-284-6900.

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