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.
Watch: Man dives into open SUV window on busy I-94, flashes gun at driver and gets away
Upon seeing the gun, Michael Vogel recalled thinking, "OK, I'll be the Uber driver."
June 13, 2023 at 9:39PM
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.
"I don't want your money. I want you to get out of my car," Vogel said he responded.
It was then that the man "lifted up his shirt and showed he had a gun," Vogel said. "He never pulled it out or anything."
Having seen the weapon, Vogel said, he remembered thinking, "OK, I'll be the Uber driver."
Vogel headed west through the tunnel onto Interstate 394, exited at N. Penn Avenue and dropped the man off at a gas station a couple of blocks to the north.
"He got out and just started walking while he was still on the phone," Vogel said.
The State Patrol had the unidentified man's car towed, and investigators have asked a court for permission to search the vehicle for evidence. As of Tuesday afternoon, the patrol was still looking for the suspect.
The roots of the incident started out innocently enough, according to the search warrant affidavit:
The trooper saw a car stopped along the interstate, where the man said he ran out of gas. He told the trooper his name was "John Smith" and gave a date of birth, but he couldn't produce a driver's license when asked.
The man was put in the squad as a flatbed truck was about to remove the car from the shoulder.
A moment later, the man stood up and pushed his way past the trooper, sending both of them to the ground. From there, the suspect left the shaken but uninjured trooper behind, weaved his way to Vogel's SUV, clambered into the vehicle and evaded capture.
Thinking back, Vogel said, "I wasn't scared. He wasn't super threatening. He flashed the gun but was apologetic. He was thankful."
Staff writer Andy Mannix and researcher John Wareham contributed to this report.
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