SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A man charged with leading police on a chase which only ended after authorities used a snow plow is now competent to stand trial.
Aaron Renel is charged with attempting to flee an officer, resisting an officer, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, and other counts for the May 8 incident.
The Friday ruling means Renel understands the court proceedings and can assist in his own defense. The next step in the case will be a preliminary hearing, but that has not been set. A status conference is scheduled for May 10, court records show.
Renel was deemed not competent in June, and he was sent to a mental health facility for treatment.
Crews responded to reports of a military-type vehicle on Hwy. 29 in western Shawano County. They were called at 5:15 p.m. May 8 for reports of a vehicle traveling with a flat tire causing a traffic hazard.
Deputies tried stopping the vehicle but were led on a short chase. Eastbound Hwy. 29 was shut down due to the incident.
Renel didn’t cooperate with deputies so a special response unit was sent to the scene and spent four hours negotiating with the driver.
“We communicated peacefully and respectfully with him with common military experience and understanding but Aaron believed the truck to be sovereign and he needed to protect it because it was protected by a declaration of war,” the complaint quotes a sheriff’s detective as saying.
Around 9:30 p.m. the suspect started to flee in the vehicle again heading east on Hwy. 29. Deputies used snowplow trucks to perform a moving roadblock. However, Renel crossed the median, and started driving eastbound in the westbound lanes. A deputy operating a snow plow truck was able to pin the truck into the median.
Renel was removed with force.
No one was injured.
