A New Brighton police officer was injured while stuck in the door of a stolen car as the suspect ran the vehicle into a retail outlet, authorities said.
The frantic sequence of events erupted about 2 p.m. Monday at the intersection of W. County Road E and Silver Lake Road and left the officer with a broken wrist, police said. Authorities captured and arrested the suspect, a 26-year-old man from Minneapolis.
A second officer required medical evaluation for an injury that occurred while running after the suspect and has returned to duty.
According to police:
The officer stopped a motorcyclist in the parking lot of a business for lack of a license plate. The man got off the motorcycle and fought the officer before he got in a car and drove the vehicle into Midwest Tobacco and Vapor "with the officer still stuck in the vehicle door," a statement from police read.
The officer broke free before the man drove off. Other officers caught up with the suspect nearly 2 miles to the southwest near NE. 37th Avenue and Hayes Street, where one officer used his vehicle to bring the stolen car to a halt.
The man ran but was soon apprehended by police. He claimed that he ingested narcotics, prompting authorities to have him evaluated at a hospital before he was jailed.
A handgun was seized from the man, and narcotics he threw from the car were recovered.
Authorities determined that the motorcycle had been stolen. The car also had been stolen earlier in Coon Rapids.
Police say they intend to pursue charges against the man of assaulting a police officer, fleeing police in a motor vehicle, auto theft, possession of illicit drug and felon in possession of a firearm. The Star Tribune general does not identify suspects before they are charged.
There are two warrants out for the man's arrest in Hennepin County for unspecified crimes, and his criminal history also includes convictions for burglary and a weapons violation.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
