How FLOCK cameras, a lanyard and a police chase led to an arrest in a west-side shooting
A 23-year-old Weston man faces a felony charge after police say a man was shot outside M&R Station early Sunday morning.
Police in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, a Sunday, were called to Wausau Aspirus Hospital. A man had driven himself to the hospital with what appeared to be a small caliber gunshot wound in his back.
Police didn’t get much from the victim himself. There were no shell casings in the parking lot, and witnesses weren’t saying much either. But surveillance cameras had captured what happened.
Police on Wednesday arrested Jacob Lo, 23 of Weston, according to jail logs. The story of how it happened is where things get interesting.
Tracking down the suspect
Investigators after interviewing the victim and his girlfriend about what happened headed to the M&R Station Parking Lot where the incident allegedly occurred. Police found no shell casings in the bar’s parking lot or that of the nearby Asian market. Witnesses on the scene didn’t tell police much either, a complaint filed in Marathon County Court says.
But police were later able to obtain surveillance footage from M&R Station and the Asian market. According to the report, a light-colored Dodge Charger entered the bar’s parking lot at 1:42 am; the victim walked across the parking lot a few seconds later, and shortly after small puffs of smoke appears in the passenger side window. The shots appear to damage the passenger side mirror cap, which fell off. The victim collapses, and the Charger speeds off on South Third Avenue. Police later found what appeared to be two bullet holes in the mirror casing when they retrieved it.
The damaged mirror would become an important clue. Police later recovered the cap from a trash receptacle behind M&R Station and said it contained two perforations consistent with small-caliber gunfire. Investigators then used FLOCK cameras to identify the Charger as a 2009 tan Dodge registered to Barron Moore.
But Moore wasn’t necessarily the person behind the wheel. Surveillance from inside the bar showed Jacob Lo wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and a distinctive orange Nike lanyard — details that would become important as detectives reconstructed who had possession of Moore’s car.
Police later searched a residence in Green Bay, believed to be Moore’s current residence (Moore owned the Charger). Inside they found the keys to the Charger attached with an orange Nike Lanyard similar to the one Lo wore in surveillance footage.
Police later arrested another person present — Diante Dickens — who told police that Moore had introduced him to a “Jay.” Later, the bartender said it sounded like someone was shooting a BB gun outside.
They went outside, and when Moore learned that Jay, believed to be Jacob Lo, was in his charger and had been shooting from the car, he became angry. Jay told him where he’d left the Charger, Dickens told police. Police later seized the Charger and found two shell casings inside.
The gun had not been recovered at the time of the complaint.
Lo’s arrest
By Wednesday, investigators had enough to obtain an arrest warrant for Lo.
That afternoon, Wausau police spotted him driving in the city and attempted a traffic stop.
He didn’t stop.
The rest of this story includes details Wausau police provided directly to The Wausonian about the pursuit and arrest, including speeds, the route of the chase and what happened when officers finally stopped Lo.
On Wednesday, Wausau Police observed Lo driving a vehicle in the city, and attempted to stop him. That ultimately led to what police described to The Wausonian as a high-speed chase that also involved officers from Mountain Bay, Kronenwetter and the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office. Speeds reached in excess of 110 miles per hour, police told The Wausonian.
Captain Ben Graham described the chase to The Wausonian:
At approximately 4:15 PM, the Wausau Police Department attempted a traffic stop on N 10th Avenue near W Bridge Street. Lo failed to stop and immediately fled south at a high rate of speed.
He continued southbound onto US 51 from Stewart Avenue, crossed through the median into oncoming traffic, exited against traffic onto Maple Ridge Road, and then fled northbound through Kronenwetter, Rothschild, and Weston.
The pursuit concluded at about 4:36 PM near the intersection of Mesker Street and Sternberg Avenue, where a Marathon County deputy disabled the suspect’s vehicle by striking it.
Graham told The Wausonian that Lo sideswiped two passenger vehicles during his pursuit. They were damaged but drivable, but the squad used by the deputy to strike and stop Lo’s vehicle was disabled afterward, he says. One deputy sustained minor injuries. He was treated and released, Graham says.
According to Marathon County Court records, a complaint was filed and a warrant issued for Lo’s arrest on Wednesday Morning. Police observed him driving later than afternoon and initiated the stop that ultimately led to his arrest.
Lo is expected in Marathon County Court this afternoon. No bond has been set in the case as of publication. Lo is currently facing one charge of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
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