BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
A Wisconsin man who fled from police in Lake City and was apprehended in Lake Butler was sentenced to 40 days in jail for violating driver’s license restrictions.
Nicholas Wade Gregory, 37, of Kenosha had already served 39 days in the Union County lockup.
According to court records, deputies stopped the defendant after seeing that his grey Toyota Camry had no tag and receiving information from Lake City Police that a similar vehicle had fled from officers. Deputy Clyde Barringer wrote in an arrest report that the defendant refused to stop after he and another deputy activated their emergency lights, so Barringer maneuvered his vehicle in front of Gregory’s and forced the 37-year-old to stop.
“I questioned Nicholas in regard to why he did not stop, and he stated, ‘I was scared,’” wrote the deputy.
A dispatcher told Barringer that the defendant had a valid license in his home state with a restriction that his car was equipped with an interlocking ignition device, which requires the driver to submit a breath sample before the vehicle can be started.
“After searching the vehicle,” Barringer reported, “no device was found. “I questioned Nicholas in regards if he was supposed to have an interlock device in his vehicle, and he stated, ‘Yes, but I paid a guy under the table to remove it for me!”
