MONROE — Monroe Police on Sunday night might have thought they were engaging in a routine traffic stop on the city’s northeast side, just after 7 p.m.

But the driver — a suspect with a litany of previous felonies and misdemeanors in Wisconsin and multiple impaired driving convictions — did not stop. 

A chase ensued, if it could be called that, starting around Beverage Mart. And while it ultimately ended in a crash, it was definitely not a fiery one, or the stuff of action movies.

“It wasn’t very high speed,” said Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.

The driver, Randall S. Zuber, 47, of Monroe, was arrested and charged with two counts of resisting arrest, one count of making threats, one count of battery to an officer; and a count of disorderly conduct. 

Records indicate Sunday’s arrest also netted Zuber his 5th OWI arrest, also a felony.

The ordeal through the streets of Monroe did not last long, ending at about 7:24 p.m.

That is when the car stopped, but the driver wasn’t done — he allegedly backed his car into the front of a squad car and fought with police. Then, Kelley said, a 67-year-old woman appeared and began trying to defend the original suspect against the officers trying to take him into custody.

“She tried to intervene,” said Kelley. “It was a push-pull thing for who was going to have Mr. Zuber,” he said.

But it ended when police gained control of the situation and arrested both. 

The bystander, Kathleen K. Rinehardt, also of Monroe, was charged with battery to an officer and resisting arrest. Both were taken to Green County Jail, according to Kelley. An officer at the jail said they remained in custody there late Monday.

Zuber, police said, was known to law enforcement through previous contacts. Indeed, court records indicate he has a lengthy record, including a 2023 felony conviction for fleeing to elude, a 2018 felony conviction for escape; and a 2011 felony conviction for resisting arrest.

He also was wanted on a Wisconsin Department of Corrections warrant, according to the chief.

Rinehardt has no apparent criminal record in Wisconsin, according to court records.