Trio's crime spree included Ontonagon County break-in

By RALPH ANSAMI

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Ontonagon — Ontonagon County Sheriff Dale Rantala is asking Ewen area residents to check their hunting camps after a trio involved in a crime spree broke into a camp Wednesday.

Around 12:23 p.m., Dale Kasten, of Ewen, reported a break-in to his camp where guns and other valuables were stolen, according to Rantala.

“An investigation revealed that three Ashland County area individuals were involved in a crime spree heading east from Wisconsin. They were arrested in Cheboygan County, in lower Michigan,” the sheriff said.

The two men and a woman were arrested after a high-speed chase.

Stolen guns and drug paraphernalia were recovered after the suspects fled in a pickup and one tried to run across Mullet Lake.

The initial report was that a vehicle was stolen in Ashland County and several burglaries had occurred. The late model white Chevrolet Avalanche four-door pickup was stolen around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday in Mellen.

Around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the Ewen break-in was reported.

Cheboygan County deputies had been notified to be on the lookout for the stolen truck that was coming from the Upper Peninsula.

At 10:24 p.m. Wednesday, the Chippewa County dispatch center aired that the vehicle was spotted crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, heading south into Cheboygan County.

A deputy spotted it and tried to pull the driver over on I-75 south, but the vehicle didn’t stop, continuing on to M-27, reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.

The three ditched the truck and tried to cross Mullet Lake, near Liberty Point.

Two were of the suspects were stopped and taken into custody.

The sheriff’s department then set up deputies around the lake and deployed a hovercraft to try to catch the third suspect. He was apprehended on the lake at a home.

Law enforcement authorities said there appeared to be a mobile meth lab in the vehicle.

Rantala indicated Friday in a news release that the three would be charged in multiple jurisdictions.