Stolen Cars, Report of Runaway Teen Ends with Four in Custody

The parking lot of Walmart Thursday afternoon was a lot busier than usual when Mount Pleasant Police assisted the Wisconsin State Patrol apprehend four people troopers say stole two cars from Wisconsin Rapids.

According to MPPD Sgt. Paul Maccari, officers were asked to check out reports of two stolen vehicles from Wisconsin Rapids that were believed to be in the area of Regency Mall or Walmart. The Wood County Sheriff’s Department via the Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids Police Departments made the original report about the two stolen vehicles. 

It was believed that one of the cars had a teenage girl reported as a runaway.

An investigator in an unmarked car spotted the vehicles in question leave the mall and head west on Durand Avenue toward Walmart. Additional squads from Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant, with a number of troopers from State Patrol, joined the investigator in the parking lot of Walmart to stop the cars.

Four people were taken into custody and transported to MPPD for processing, but Maccari could not confirm if one of those individuals is the teen girl in question.

"The two vehicles were stopped in the Walmart lot and four subjects were detained by officers and troopers," Maccari wrote in an email to Patch.

Patch touched base with Wisconsin State Patrol, but they said because juveniles are involved, updates will not be issued.