A 70-year-old Hager City man just wanted to go home, which was the reason he gave to police for not stopping when they tried to pull him over for April 21 for odd driving behavior.

Michael Arthur Rustad, who also has an address listed in Spring Valley, was ordered to pay $500 cash bond April 22 in Pierce County Circuit Court on resisting/failing to stop and resisting or obstructing an officer charges. If convicted, the maximum penalty is nine months in jail and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

While on patrol Sunday, April 21, a Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputy traveling eastbound on Highway 10 saw Rustad’s vehicle sitting facing westbound on Highway 10 in the middle of the traffic lane. The deputy turned southbound onto Highway 63, then onto 520^th Avenue and parked to see if the vehicle would leave. The deputy was parked for roughly a minute and the vehicle didn’t move. The deputy turned around and headed northbound on Highway 63 back toward the vehicle. As he approached the intersection, the vehicle shut all its lights off.

The officer turned eastbound onto Highway 10 toward Ellsworth, then turned around. As he turned around, the vehicle’s lights came on and it took off southbound onto Highway 63. The officer followed the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander, driven by Rustad. It touched the center line twice and had trouble maintaining its lane. The vehicle’s speed varied from 30 mph to its fastest at 43 mph in a 55 mph zone.

As the Mitsubishi approached the Bluff’s Bar & Grill in Hager City, the vehicle braked hard and turned sharply into the parking lot without using a turn signal. Another deputy had joined the slow-speed pursuit. Officers got behind the vehicle as it leaving the parking lot heading southbound on Highway 63. The vehicle stopped at the Highway 35/63 intersection, then turned right heading northbound on Highway 35. At this point the officer activated his emergency lights and siren at 12:09 a.m. The vehicle continued northbound without stopping, crossing the center line before turning southbound onto County Road VV. The vehicle was going 37 mph in a 25 mph zone when entering Hager City. Rustad then turned left onto the ramp leading to County Road K next to the bridge on County Road VV. He failed to stop at the stop sign and turned right onto 170^th Avenue. The vehicle finally stopped in front of W8079 170^th Ave. in the driveway.

The officer exited his squad with his gun drawn. He ordered Rustad to show his hands and roll the window down several times. Rustad had the window cracked in order to tap his cigarette ashes outside. He refused commands to get out and began driving further down the road, coming to a stop in the driveway of W8075 170^th Ave.

Rustad continued to ignore commands and tapped his cigarette out the cracked window. Once he finished one cigarette, he would light a new one. Periodically, he drank from a cup which officers later learned was coffee. One sergeant on scene heard the man say something like “You’ll have to shoot me to get me out of the car.” Officers drew back and held cover on the vehicle. They continued to ask Rustad to roll the window down, but he wouldn’t.

St. Croix County’s K9 officer responded but the man still refused to leave the vehicle. St. Croix County deputies and a Pierce County lieutenant approached the man’s driver’s side window and broke it. Rustad was pulled out of the car and taken down to the ground. He tensed up, making it difficult for officers to handcuff him.

Rustad said he saw the officer’s lights behind him and continued to drive because he wanted to get home. He denied needing EMS but said his shoulder hurt. He had slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet, but registered 0.00 BAC. After performing field sobriety tests, which he passed, Rustad was taken to Pierce County Jail, where he was cited for vehicle operator flee/elude officer, fail/stop at a stop sign, operating left of center and fail/signal turn/unsafe turn. The pursuit of Rustad was approximately 1.03 miles long.

His next court appearance is a status conference at 2:45 p.m. May 23.