UPDATE (10:00 A.M): The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office is indicating in a news release that this plane crash is related to a domestic abuse arrest.
Since August 13, authorities had been searching for a man who was wanted for domestic abuse related charges. Investigators had learned that the man had a plane at Wittman Airport.
On Friday night, as the man tried to take off in his plane, air traffic control tower officials attempted to hold plane on behalf of authorities trying to arrest him. According to the Sheriff's Office, the suspect disregarded the tower’s instructions to hold. He took off, nearly colliding with an Oshkosh Police Department squad car in the process.
Around 11:40pm, the plane crashed in Waupaca County. The suspect suffered serious, but non-life threating injuries. The suspect was ultimately transported to an area hospital where he remains, and was taken into custody by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office on the original domestic abuse case.
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PREVIOUS (9:00 A.M.) Waupaca County Sheriff's Office says a plane crashed in a corn field and the pilot was taken to the hospital with severe injuries.
The Sheriff's Office says deputies responded to a call around 11:20 Friday night. A caller reported seeing a possible plane crash near his home on Harrington Road, east of State Highway 22-54 in Waupaca. The caller reported seeing a flashing red light in a corn field.
Emergency responders found the crashed plane and pulled a 47-year-old man from the craft. The Sheriff's Office says he was the only person on the aircraft. Crews took the man to the hospital for severe injuries.
The Sheriff's Office says the aircraft involved was a small twin propeller six passenger plane. The FAA is investigating the crash.
