Man Charged After Police Chase Motorcycles Through Greenfield

GREENFIELD, WI — A man is facing a felony charge of fleeing an officer after he led police for 2.1 miles through Greenfield on his motorcycle in a pursuit that ended after he got caught on construction tape.

Reinaldo Melendez, 37, was charged in Milwaukee County, online court records showed. A police report from the Greenfield Police Department said Melendez reached around 80 mph in a chase before he drove the wrong way down Layton Avenue near Loomis Road.

An officer spotted two motorcyclists, including the one later identified as Melendez, driving east down Layton Avenue near Forest Home Avenue around 10 p.m. that day, a police report said. Police said they tried to pull the motorcycles over because one wasn't registered and the other did a "wheelie," according to the report.

After an officer activated his squads lights and sirens the motorcyclists sped up, with one reaching 80 to 90 mph at points, the police report said. One of the motorcycles turned into oncoming lanes of Layton Avenue in a construction zone near Loomis Road, police said in the report.

The officer tried alerting oncoming drivers with his spotlight and followed the motorcycle, the report said. When the driver tried turning his motorcycle around he became hung up on tape between construction barrels, the police report said.

An officer tried taking the motorcyclist to the ground but the vehicle rapidly accelerated and threw the officer off, causing a minor scrape and pain, the report said. The officer tried again and managed to get the man off the motorcycle and other officers arrested the man, police said.