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After shooting at police, 19-year-old Holmen man held without bond

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He allegedly shot at police. Then fled at speeds nearing 100 miles per hour. 

Now, a Holmen, Wis., man is being held without bond in La Crosse, awaiting extradition. 

Wyatt Helfrich is expected to voluntarily return to Minnesota, but the 19-year-old will be back in front of a La Crosse judge Wednesday.

Helfrich appeared in court Tuesday with a large bandage on the back of his neck.

He and William Wallraff are suspected of firing at La Crescent police before leading them on a high-speed chase that ended with them crashing in a bean field in Caledonia, Minn.

Wallraff does not have a court date scheduled yet in Houston County, but he is jailed on a charge of attempted murder of a peace officer.

The incident began around 1:30 a.m. Monday when La Crescent police officers saw the two men behaving suspiciously at the 3rd St. Kwik Trip.

Police followed their car after they left and tried to pull it over in Hokah, Minn.

That’s where the two shot at police, who returned fire. The men then took off and a chase ensued, reportedly reaching speeds of around 100 mph.

It ended when the car crashed in a bean field on Hwy. 44 in Caledonia, Minn. The suspects ran from the scene but later surrendered.

Helfrich was taken to Gundersen in La Crosse for treatment of injuries and is still in the La Crosse County Jail.

(A previous version of the story mistakenly reported that Helfrich had been given a cash bond. 

That bond was imposed on a different prisoner in court on Tuesday.)

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.

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