A sheriff's deputy was fatally shot late at night in western Wisconsin, and authorities said Sunday they have arrested a 43-year-old suspect.

The deputy with the Rusk County Sheriff's Office was shot about 11 p.m. Saturday while checking on a suspicious vehicle south of Ladysmith on Broken Arrow Road, just east of Hwy. 27, according to Sheriff Jeff Wallace.

Wallace said authorities tracked down and arrested Doug Nitek, 43, about 10:20 a.m. Sunday at an undisclosed residence after deputies were fired upon once by the suspect. A robot from Eau Claire County was deployed to search the residence.

Nitek is now jailed ahead of possible charges this week.

The sheriff did not elaborate on how law enforcement identified Nitek as the suspect. Public records show he lives a few miles southeast of the shooting scene.

Nitek's criminal history in Wisconsin reaches back to the mid-1990s and includes convictions for sexual assault, theft, fleeing police, disorderly conduct, multiple instances of drunken driving and attempting to pass bad checks.

Paul Walsh — Rusk County Sheriff's Office, Star Tribune
Doug Nitek

Late Sunday morning, Wallace identified the deputy as Dan Glaze, 33, a law enforcement veteran who has been with the Rusk County Sheriff's Office for the past 1½ years. Previously, he was with the Hayward Police Department for eight years.

"Please keep the family of the fallen officer and the men and women of the Rusk County Sheriff's Department in your prayers," Wallace said in a statement detailing the shooting.

Soon after news of Glaze's death spread, relatives of Dan and Sarah Glaze posted on Facebook the image of a blue band spanning a Rusk County sheriff's officer's badge.

According to the sheriff:

The deputy responded to a suspicious vehicle call and radioed dispatch that he had located the vehicle in a field.

Dispatch lost contact with Glaze, and backup deputies arrived minutes later and discovered that he was fatally shot.

Area law enforcement responded from the Ladysmith and Rice Lake police departments, the Barron, Washburn, Sawyer and Eau Claire County SWAT teams and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Rusk County is made up of 24 townships, eight villages and one city. The Sheriff's Office is responsible for the entire county, with the exception of the city of Ladysmith, which has its own police department.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482