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Teens caught after police chase; power pole sheared

A DAMAGED VEHICLE is shown just outside a home in Vulcan after hitting several power poles while being pursued by police early Monday. (Photo from Nikki Dennocenzo video)

NORWAY TOWNSHIP — A police chase that started in Iron Mountain early Monday morning ended in central Vulcan with two teen suspects from the Milwaukee, Wis., area nearly crashing into a residence.

The vehicle, a white Chevrolet Trailblazer, was driven by a 15-year-old male juvenile, authorities said. His passenger was a 17-year-old male.

A Dickinson County sheriff’s patrol tried to pull the vehicle over in Iron Mountain and a high-speed chase ensued, heading east on U.S. 2. Iron Mountain Police Department joined the pursuit as the vehicle proceeded east through Quinnesec, Norway and into Norway Township.

The vehicle turned south off the highway onto Main Street, striking and shearing off a power pole in the yard of W5057 Main St., a home owned by Jeff and Kathy Bilski. The vehicle continued southbound, bouncing off of two more power poles along the way, eventually coming to a stop about 3:50 a.m. in the yard at W5022 Central Blvd., coming within a few feet of crashing into Nikki Dennocenzo’s home.

The driver and passenger attempted to flee on foot from the vehicle but were quickly apprehended by authorities.

The driver, whose name is being withheld due to his age, appeared in Dickinson County Juvenile Court on Monday morning and was released to the custody of his parents.

The power line that was attached to the sheared-off pole was left laying across Main Street early Monday, causing a handful of outages on the east side of Main Street. Traffic was blocked off at the north end of Central Boulevard and Main Street, and at the three-way intersection of Main Street, Mission Street and Central Avenue near Norway Township Hall.

“I was very happy with how quickly and effectively the police handled this situation,” Dennocenzo said. “The additional police presence as well as ambulance and fire department were almost immediate.”

Another resident noted that when the vehicle sheared off the power pole, it sounded like a gunshot.

“The noise and the force of the vehicle hitting the power pole was so hard and so loud, it shook our whole house,” Jeff Bilski said. “It was loud and hard enough of an impact that we thought our house got hit.”

The pole was no more than 20 feet from the front porch of the Bilski residence as well as a neighboring home.

Dickinson County sheriff’s deputies were assisted by Iron Mountain Police Department, Norway Police, North Alert Ambulance, Norway Fire Department and We Energies. We Energies remained on site for several hours.

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