Crime & Safety

Failure to Heed Stop Sign Led to 100 mph Pursuit through Fridley

Suspect driver and two passengers raced at 100 mph from Elk River to St. Anthony.

 

An Elk River man was arrested in a high-speed police pursuit that tore through Fridley shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday.

The driver sped as fast as 100 miles per hour as he fled police through several cities in the north metro, from Elk River to St. Anthony.

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He was initially being stopped by Elk River Police for speeding and failing to stop at a stop sign.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of speeding, failing to stop at a stop sign, driving after revocation, and for having two warrants out for his arrest—one a misdemeanor warrant from Todd County, the other a felony warrant from Aitkin County.

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"At the time (of the chase), we didn't know he had warrants out for his arrest," said Capt. Bob Kluntz of the Elk River Police Department. "The vehicle was just traveling at a higher rate of speed and went thorugh a stop sign without stopping."

The chase started in Elk River at 1:26 a.m. and ended in St. Anthony, near Northeast Minneapolis at 1:50 a.m. Thursday. It ended on Silver Lake Road, south of 31st Avenue NE, after officers conducted a Pursuit Intervention Tactic (PIT) manuever, which took out the back of the vehicle and caused it to go off the road.

No injuries were reported.

The chase went through St. Michael, Rogers, Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Fridley and New Brighton.

"It started in Elk River, eventually went to Highway 101, then onto County Road 36 toward St. Michael," Kluntz said. "They hit the freeway (Interstate 94) from there and went east into Maple Grove. Then east on 694 and got off on University Ave. (in Fridley). Then they got back on the freeway and exited at Silver Lake Road."

A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter monitored the chase from above. Police departments that likely provided officer assistance to Elk River Police Department were Maple Grove Police, Roseville Police and St. Anthony Police.

Departments that offered dispatch assistance were Sherburne County Sheriff's Office, Wright County Sheriff's Office, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, and Minneapolis Police Department, according to Kluntz.

Listen to three audio clips of law enforcement radio communication posted by Police Clips.


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