Phillips appears in felony charge

A man who allegedly led Minnesota and Wisconsin sheriff’s deputies on a chase in a reported stolen car incident Jan. 12 appeared in St. Croix County Circuit Court Friday on a felony charge.

Loren Hagen Phillips, 42, 787 Pine Ridge Terrace, River Falls, was ordered to post $5,000 cash bail on a felony driving without consent charge. A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 25 at 11:30 a.m.

The criminal complaint said sheriff’s deputies were called to a town of Troy residence on a domestic complaint at 4:43 a.m. Jan. 12. A call from dispatch said the boyfriend involved had stolen a vehicle and was possibly headed to Minnesota.

Washington county authorities located the car and gave chase back across the Stillwater bridge into Wisconsin where the vehicle crashed near County V and 150th Street in the town of St. Joseph at about 5 a.m.

“A house was broken into on 24th St. which was the general direction the suspect was believed to be going,” said Sheriff John Shilts. The emergency response team (SWAT) and police dogs from St. Croix County were called in to secure the houses on the dead-end street at about 8:45 a.m. They cleared the area around noon.

Phillips remained at large until he was picked up in Minnesota by Ramsey County authorities Jan 14. He waived extradition and arrived in Wisconsin Friday, Jan. 20.

Tags: crime and courts, news, crime