For the second time in less than a week drivers around the St. Michael area were confronted with a high-speed chase. This time, the suspect led authorities on a high-speed chase down Interstate 94 before losing control of his vehicle near the Crow River bridge in between St. Michael and Rogers.
The chase followed an armed robbery call at the Kohl’s Department Store in the St. Cloud area Wednesday evening. The suspect fled eastbound on Interstate 94, and investigators tied the vehicle to another robbery that had been reported earlier in the day in St. Paul.
Waite Park and Minnesota State Patrol ended their initial pursuit due to heavy traffic in St. Cloud area – it was in the heart the 5 p.m. rush hour. But deputies in Wright County picked up the vehicle when it stopped in Albertville along County Road 37. Witnesses say the suspects – a man and his wife – had stopped the mini-van to refuel, but when deputies approached the Shell Station on County 137, the suspect jumped back into the vehicle and fled.
That led deputies farther eastbound along Interstate 94 and over the Crow River bridge. The suspect lost control of his van on the east side of the bridge and Rogers Police and Wright County deputies were able to detain both the suspect and his wife. Witnesses said stop sticks were used to slow down the vehicle.
Children were in the vehicle at the time. Their ages have not been released.
Here’s video compiled by Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP:
The police-involved chase comes on the heels of a weekend crash in St. Michael that resulted from two teens fleeing police officers early Saturday morning. The two 16-year-old boys face charges from an alleged residential burglary and auto theft.