Winona police chase results in arrest Friday morning

(ABC 6 News) – The Winona Police Dept. arrested a man after engaging in a pursuit following a burglary alarm Friday, Jan. 3.

According to WPD Chief Tom Williams, officers responded to a home on the 1000 block of E 3rd St. around 6:59 a.m. for a burglary alarm.

Officers eventually were ready to clear the scene and headed back to their patrol cars when Chief Williams says they saw a red Jeep Cherokee come from behind a business across the street on the 1000 block of 2nd St. E. Officers decided to check it out given that WPD has “had issues with drug usage and suspicious activity in that area.”

WPD reports the jeep’s driver shielded his face from police, and when the officers ran his vehicle’s license plate, it revealed that driver’s license had been revoked.

Despite numerous attempts to stop the driver with two separate squad cars, the driver refused to pull over. Eventually, Chief Williams says WPD deployed ‘stop sticks’ to stop the driver, but when he drove around them, the pursuit was called off.

Officers later recognized the driver on surveillance video as 44-year-old James Hernstine. The Jeep was located abandoned in town, but police later found Hernstine and arrested him.

Hernstine faces charges of fleeing law enforcement in a motorized vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, disobeying a stop sign, and driving after revocation.