Police: Two vehicles fled officer at high speeds

A couple of men are accused of leading a Rice Lake police officer on a high-speed chase reaching 100 mph in two separate vehicles within city limits.

Nicholas R. Snow, 24, of McConnell, Illinois, and Daniel G. Carrillo Graniel, 18, of Cumberland are facing charges for allegedly fleeing an officer at speeds up to 100 mph on Knapp Street in the city of Rice Lake.

Snow was charged on Monday with felony attempting to flee or elude an officer and misdemeanor possession of a firearm while intoxicated. The same day a felony count of attempting to flee or elude an officer was filed against Carrillo Graniel.

A conviction on felony attempting to flee or elude an officer carries a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and six years in prison.

According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 2:50 a.m. on Saturday a Rice Lake police officer saw a white truck fail to appropriately stop for a stop sign at the intersection of Marshall Street and Wilson Avenue.

The officer eventually located the white truck traveling westbound on Knapp Street and saw that a red truck was in front of it. The officer increased his speed to catch up to the white truck and saw both the red truck and the white truck drive through the stoplights at Knapp Street and Hammond Avenue. He turned on his emergency lights and sirens.

A few seconds afterward, both trucks extinguished their rear lights and increased their speed. The officer visually estimated the trucks to be traveling between 80-100 mph and he accelerated to 100 mph, but the trucks were pulling away from him. The trucks then turned onto Bear Paw Avenue, with the white vehicle turning into a parking lot upon reaching a dead end. The officer lost sight of the red vehicle.

As the officer commanded the driver of the white truck to exit the vehicle, he heard crashing in the woods to the north, and a sergeant reported seeing the red truck down an embankment in the woods.

The driver of the white truck was handcuffed and identified as Snow. Three other individuals were in the vehicle, and the officer observed an empty plastic handgun holster attached to the center console area.

The officer detected a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from Snow’s breath and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and his speech was slurred. Snow said he had a concealed weapons permit and had a gun behind the passenger front seat.

Snow said he “lost his shit” because someone in the red truck threw a beer bottle at his truck, which happened just before he picked up speed. The officer did not observe any fresh dents, scratches, marks or liquid on the driver’s side area of the truck.

Snow denied trying to evade the police, stating that he did not see the emergency lights or hear the sirens until just before turning onto Bear Paw Avenue. Snow said he hoped the red truck would pull off with him, and he did not know who was in it.

During a search of the white truck, a Glock 19 9mm handgun was found in the rear pocket of the passenger front seat. It contained nine bullets, and there was one bullet in the chamber. Snow said the handgun was his. He also denied turning his vehicle’s lights off during the pursuit.

Snow was unable to satisfactorily complete standardized field sobriety tests and was transported to the hospital for a blood draw. While at the hospital, Snow informed the officer that he wanted to talk to him like a man without the body camera recording. Snow said that he knew he should have stopped sooner than he did.

Snow’s three passengers said they did not know Snow prior to the night of the chase and met him at a bar. Two said they didn’t know why he sped after the red truck and did not see or hear anything being thrown from it. One asked him to slow down and stop, but said Snow would not listen.

The red truck was located approximately 50 yards into the woods. A police sergeant said he could hear people moving in the woods but the truck had no occupants. It appeared severely damaged with several airbags deployed.

While the vehicle was being towed, two men approached the officers. One was the registered owner of the red truck and he identified the driver as his son, the defendant Carrillo Graniel, who was currently in a vehicle parked in a nearby parking lot.

Carillo Graniel said he did not know the individuals in the white truck, which was following him, and he got scared when he saw the officer turn his lights on and that was when he drove faster.

Carillo Graniel said he remembered turning his lights off, which he did because he panicked, and heard the emergency lights and sirens.