A Twin Cities commuter heard the frantic cries for help from a man who ran across several lanes of busy interstate in downtown Minneapolis and flagged down his SUV.
Within seconds, however, the 39-year-old construction worker realized he was the one in peril once the man dove head-first through the SUV's open window, flashed a gun and ordered him to get moving.
Michael Vogel said Tuesday that he was the motorist seen on traffic camera video on the morning of June 5 who was thrust against his will into the role of getaway driver along Interstate 94 near the Lowry Hill Tunnel.
Moments earlier, Vogel's armed passenger wrestled with a state trooper in the grass off the eastbound shoulder of I-94, wriggled free and dodged three lanes of moving vehicles, then hopped the concrete median and dashed across three more lanes until getting to Vogel's SUV on the westbound side.
"'Help! Help! They're shooting at me!' " Vogel recalled hearing from the man who waved down the SUV. "He looked super desperate."

At first, the man yanked on the front passenger-side door handle, which was locked. Vogel said he rolled down the window and yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" That's when the man, who appeared to be in his mid-20s, sprung from the interstate pavement into the seat next to Vogel.
Vogel said he was going to be late for work at a hotel remodeling project and demanded that the man get out of his SUV.
"I'm sorry. I'll pay," Vogel said he heard the man say.