How did a Hennepin Co. sheriff’s vehicle end up in a NW Wisconsin ditch?

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating after one of its vehicles was discovered in a ditch in northwestern Wisconsin Saturday night.

The Burnett County Sheriff's Office impounded the car after a deputy found it just before 10 p.m. Saturday in a ditch in rural Rusk Township, Wis., more than 100 miles from Minneapolis. It was unoccupied, undamaged and towed to an impound lot.

The Wisconsin sheriff’s office described it as a “non reportable” crash, meaning it didn’t require a report to authorities about the vehicle and its circumstances.

The car had been assigned to a Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office employee who was driving to northwestern Wisconsin to visit relatives and was on call at the time, said sheriff’s office spokesperson Rob Allen. He declined to name the employee.

The car was not a marked patrol vehicle and was not equipped with a rifle or other firearm, Allen said. No weapons were missing in the incident.

Allen said the vehicle was considered a so-called “take home” car. Investigators are trying to determine how it wound up in the ditch.

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