South Dakota Man Leads Authorities On Three-County Chase

Date posted - August 17, 2012

Sioux Falls, SD — A burglary in Valley Springs, South Dakota resulted in a vehicle chase that went into three counties and two states.

KELO-TV reports that 34-year-old Tyson Wessels of Chancellor, SD attempted to steal an ATM from The Pumphouse convenience store in Valley Springs in the 5 AM hour Friday morning. A neighbor heard the burglar alarm and wrote down the plate number. Authorities found the vehicle had been stolen.

Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Deputies attempted to stop the car, but Wessels allegedly rammed a deputy’s patrol car. KELO says the deputy fired shots into the back of the stolen pickup truck.

At one point, the chase continued into Lyon County, Iowa. We talked to Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal. He says the suspect also damaged one of Lyon County’s patrol cars in the pursuit.

Then he went back west across the Big Sioux River and into South Dakota again. Lincoln County Sheriff Dennis Johnson says Wessels eventually went off road and through a beanfield into a cornfield. He says the pickup was still drivable, and Wessels then allegedly took off again, going through farm yards.

He eventually bailed out at a farm place about three-quarter mile from the river, and a foot search started. He says aircraft from both the Iowa State Patrol and South Dakota Highway Patrol assisted in the search.

Wessels was eventually apprehended and taken to jail in Sioux Falls. He is charged in Minnehaha County with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and third degree burglary. Charges may be pending in Lincoln and Lyon Counties.