By Shereen Siewert

A 32-year-old man arrested after stealing two vehicles in Wausau and leading police on a chase with speeds topping 100 mph was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison after being convicted of four felony charges.

Brand Biller was arrested in September 2020 after a 50-minute standoff with police. Investigators say he stole an Aspirus transport van at gunpoint, stole a second vehicle at a home on Knox Street, then fled from police on Hwy. 51 before being apprehended in Weston. He faced charges of armed robbery, burglary, operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent, possession of a firearm as a felon and fleeing an officer in connection with the case. Police say Brand, of Chippewa Falls, was wanted on charges elsewhere around the state when he was arrested.

The incident unfolded at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2020 when Marathon County dispatch took a call reporting an alleged armed robbery and theft of a transport van from Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Witnesses told police a man entered the occupied van and pulled out a handgun. The driver, an Aspirus employee, escaped unharmed and Biller fled the scene in the van, police said.

About 15 minutes later, dispatchers took a second call of a stolen vehicle, this time from a home in the 1500 block of West Knox Street. Police say Biller entered the home, said he had a gun and took the keys to the resident’s car, leaving the abandoned Aspirus transport van behind.

The second stolen vehicle was located by a Marathon County Sheriff’s deputy who spotted the car traveling east on Hwy. 29 from Hwy. 51. Biller allegedly refused to stop and a chase began, reaching speeds topping 100 mph, police said.

With deputies in pursuit, the suspect left the roadway on East Everest Avenue near Community Center Drive in Weston. A Marathon County Sheriff’s lieutenant pinned the suspect’s vehicle against a tree.

But Biller refused to surrender, police said, and a standoff followed. Police say Biller remained inside the vehicle, gun in hand, and threatened to commit suicide. Eventually, the lieutenant persuaded Biller to surrender and no one was injured.

In January 2021, the investigation took a new turn when a Shawano County deputy contacted local police regarding the firearm recovered when Biller was arrested. Police say the .22 revolver was stolen from an 85-year-old Shawano resident’s home. An additional charge was filed.

In November Brand entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to the charges he faced. But on Wednesday, he appeared in court and pleaded guilty to operating or possessing a weapon without the owner’s consent, burglary, possessing a firearm after a felony conviction and fleeing an officer. All other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Brand, who was on extended supervision for an earlier crime at the time of the armed robbery, has been held in a Wisconsin prison since his probation was revoked, shortly after his arrest. Now, he will spend an additional 18 years in prison, minus 173 days of credit for time served, and will spend 15 years on extended supervision following his eventual release.