Caller tip leads police to missing Portage County Jail inmate

STEVENS POINT − A caller's tip on Saturday led police to a 28-year-old Plover man who reportedly walked away from the Portage County Jail on a furlough more than a week earlier and did not return.

Matthew J. Garsomke was released from the Portage County Jail on a three-hour court-ordered furlough at 10:30 a.m. June 28, according to the Portage County Sheriff's Office. He failed to return to the jail at 1:30 p.m. June 28.

At 11:43 a.m. Saturday, a caller reported seeing Garsomke at Metro Market in Stevens Point. The caller provided a detailed description that allowed police to find Garsomke, who was riding a bicycle in the parking lot, according to the Sheriff's Office. Garsomke tried to flee from officers and a chase began. The chase ended when Garsomke crashed his bicycle into the side of a squad car, according to Sheriff's Office.

Police arrested Garsomke and returned him to the Portage County Jail on an outstanding arrest warrant. Garsomke faces additional charges of escaping criminal arrest, resisting an officer, five counts of felony bail jumping and one count of misdemeanor bail jumping.

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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.