By Nick Ferraro
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
ANOKA COUNTY, Minn. — A man led police on a car chase Tuesday evening in the north metro — crashing into squad cars and driving in a grassy median to elude them. Once his car got hung up in the grass and was boxed in by squads, he armed himself with a knife and officers used less-lethal tactics to place him under arrest, authorities said.
The wild scene was captured on Minnesota Department of Transportation cameras, and snarled traffic along Highway 65 in Blaine for several hours.
Authorities identified the driver as Andrey Dwayne Harrell, 59, of Minneapolis. He has been booked into the Anoka County Jail.
“It is tragic that the suspect has chosen such a negative path, but I am grateful for the law enforcement team of professionals who were able to bring resolution without any injuries,” Anoka County Sheriff James Stuart said in a statement.
An Anoka County sheriff’s office deputy at about 6:15 p.m. was called to the 7000 block of Northeast Ivy Lane in Ham Lake on a report of a suspicious man in a Saturn sedan watching children in the area.
A check of the car’s license plate showed the registered owner had an active arrest warrant for felony criminal sexual conduct, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The driver sped away, but the deputy pulled away from the pursuit because of the number of people in the area, the sheriff’s office said.
Soon, a second sheriff’s deputy spotted the car headed south on Highway 65. Deputies and Blaine police officers tried stopping it with Stop Sticks and pursuit intervention techniques. After crashing into several squads, the car came to a stop in a median near the 9700 block of Highway 65.
The man then armed himself with a knife and refused law enforcement’s commands, the sheriff’s office said, and less lethal tactics were used to get him into custody. An ambulance took him to a local hospital for evaluation.
The incident is being investigated by the Minnesota State Patrol and Anoka County sheriff’s office.
(c)2021 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)