Stratford man sentenced for fleeing police
By Casey Krautkramer
John Henry Strasser, 44, of Stratford, will spend one year in the Marathon County Jail after agreeing to a plea deal in Marathon County Circuit Court to avoid a jury trial at the end of September for an incident that occurred in 2022. In the plea deal, approved on July 23, Strasser pled guilty to a felony count of attempting to flee or elude an officer on July 3, 2022, in the town of Cleveland, and a misdemeanor count of operating a firearm while intoxicated on the same day. Strasser was granted 13 days of credit for time served on his one-year sentence in the Marathon County Jail.
Strasser was also given three years of probation, with the conditions that he attend substance abuse counseling and not possess or consume alcohol or other controlled substances.
The plea deal states that Strasser’s felony count of arson from July 3, 2022, was dismissed and his felony count of intentionally pointing a firearm at a law enforcement officer on the same day was dismissed but read into the record. Strasser pled no contest to misdemeanor first-offense drunk
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driving on the same day and was fined $811.50.
According to the criminal complaint, the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department responded at 9:13 p.m. on July 3, 2022, to Strasser’s house at 213665 Wiesman Rd., which he intentionally set on fire before fleeing on STH 153 west toward the village of Stratford.
The criminal complaint says a Stratford Police Department officer spotted Strasser’s black Chevy Silverado and attempted to make a traffic stop, but Strasser just kept driving. A sheriff’s deputy joined the pursuit on STH 97 by North Road in the village of Stratford.
The county sheriff’s deputy took over the pursuit of Strasser’s truck when he turned from STH 97 east onto CTH P. The criminal complaint states that the deputy said Strasser was driving over 90 miles per hour and swerving his truck on CTH P while turning off his headlights multiple times and failing to stop at two stop signs.
The deputy lost sight of Strasser’s truck after he went through the intersection of CTH P and STH 107 east onto Ahrens Road, which is gravel. Strasser’s truck kicked up a lot of dust while driving at a high speed, according to the report.
A Kronenwetter Police Department officer spotted Strasser’s vehicle on CTH B and Rangeline Road in the city of Mosinee, according to the criminal complaint. The sheriff’s deputy pursued Strasser’s truck west through Mosinee all the way back to Wiesman Road in the town of Cleveland. Strasser ran over tire deflation devices set by police at the intersections of STH 153 and Rangeline Road and STH 153 and CTH O, and kept driving while losing both of his tires. OnStar Services, which has the ability to partially control vehicles remotely, slowed down Strasser’s truck and then shut it down in front of his parents’ house on Wiseman Road, where a long standoff ensued with police.
The criminal complaint says that Strasser pointed a rifle and pistol several times at police officers while he was in his truck. The Marshfield and Marathon County SWAT teams showed up with their armored vehicles. Strasser was able to get his truck started and he slowly drove east behind his parents’ house and into a field. The SWAT team was able to deploy chemical munition into Strasser’s truck but it didn’t compel him to exit.
The crisis negotiation team (CNT) was eventually able to convince Strasser to exit the truck with his hands empty, and he was arrested without further incident. The criminal complaint says when Strasser exited the truck, a half empty bottle of Korbel brandy fell out. There was a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from Strasser and he had a hard time walking.
