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+-- Category: My Lincoln County (https://www.mynorthernwisconsin.com/news/forum-18.html)
+--- Category: News: Lincoln County (https://www.mynorthernwisconsin.com/news/forum-26.html)
+--- Topic: LINCOLN COUNTY: TRAFFIC STOP RESULTS IN APPARENT SELF-INFLICTED FATAL INJURY (/thread-814.html)
LINCOLN COUNTY: TRAFFIC STOP RESULTS IN APPARENT SELF-INFLICTED FATAL INJURY - My Northern Wisconsin - 05-01-2026
Just before 5 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2026, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office began investigating a traffic stop incident on U.S. Highway 51 north of County Road A near Tomahawk. The traffic stop was initiated by the Wisconsin State Patrol on Wade Johnson, 36, of Minocqua.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, "A Trooper from the Wisconsin State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on Mr. Johnson’s vehicle for an equipment violation. After briefly stopping for the trooper, Mr. Johnson fled from that traffic stop and traveled approximately .25 miles before his vehicle entered the ditch and came to a final rest.
"During that short period of time, Mr. Johnson sustained an apparent self-inflected injury that he succumbed to. Given the extent of the injury that Mr. Johnson sustained, life saving measures were not attempted, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured or fired their weapons during this incident."
Deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded, along with members of the Tomahawk Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol.