Onalaska man leads police on chase at 70 mph before crashing into home

Police then chase man on foot through backyards, before finally arresting him

He lead police on a chase at up to 70 mph through the suburbs of La Crosse. 

A chase that culminated with Terrance Traylor crashing into a home around 2:30 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.

It all started with a La Crosse police officer knowing his culprit all too well. He recognized the vehicle. Traylor had been stopped by La Crosse police many times. According to what he wrote in the report, the 41-year-old tries to elude police by suddenly parking or driving down alleys – something that had happened to this officer several times.

So, the officer called into dispatch, asking for backup. But backup was nowhere near, and Traylor was all over the road so he had to pull him over.

The lights went on. The siren went on. But Traylor wasn’t pulling over, as the two reached the corner of Gillette and Rose streets. 

Finally, Traylor pulled into the Econo Lodge and began to slow. Then, of course, the inevitable. Traylor took off. He jumped the curb out of the lot and took off down Caledonia St., then headed down North St.

The officer pursued, but as Traylor reached 70 mph, he began to pull away.

Then, at the corner of North and Wood, Traylor lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a home at 1903 Loomis St., breaking a gas line.

Traylor fled on foot. The officer stopped, yelling into the house to see if anyone was hurt. A woman answered that she was OK, but smelled gas.

The officer met her behind the house and, while there, they heard a neighbor yell, “Get off my property!” 

The officer yelled to the neighbor Traylor’s description and if it was him. The neighbor yelled back, “Yes.”

The officer, making sure the woman was OK, took off after Traylor once more. Through backyards and over fences – something right out of a TV show – he chased the man, who kept yelling, “I know you know who I am but I am not going back to jail.”

Finally, the officer cornered Traylor and had his taser locked on. It must have been something Traylor had experienced a few times before, because he immediately gave himself up.

In court Monday, bond was set at $2,500 for Traylor, who was charged with fleeing an officer, resisting arrest, probation violation, operating while intoxicated and operating while revoked. It will be the Onalaska, Wis., man’s fourth OWI.

Adding to the police’s problems, later in the day, another man, Christopher Albright, was seen walking around the house that Traylor had crashed into, as the fire dept. was there trying to fix the gas leak.

Fire crews had cordoned the area but the 36-year-old Albright kept snooping around. Twice, police had to tell him to leave. Later, a fireman told police of Albright still interfering with their work. 

So, a third time, police approached Albright. In talking to him, they saw signs he was on drugs – he couldn’t stand still and he kept approaching the officer, who kept backing away.

Then, Albright clenched his fists and took a boxer’s stance, and the officer had to take him down. In doing so, they found marijuana and a pipe. Albright was arrested for resisting, disorderly and possession of drug paraphernalia.