A police drug sting late Thursday morning accelerated into a high-speed pursuit in St. Paul that ended with an innocent motorist being injured in a crash and one of suspects on the run, police said.
Police drug pursuit produces mayhem along Rice Street
May 13, 2011 at 2:04AM
The drama began when St. Paul narcotics officers set up an undercover drug buy at a business near Rice Street and Maryland Avenue, said police spokesman John Keating.
Just as two people were being arrested, two others in a car sped away south on Rice, Keating said. Two marked squad cars, lights flashing, took off in pursuit.
Said Keating: Just before Pennsylvania Avenue, the car struck a minivan from behind. The van was pushed through oncoming traffic, over a sidewalk, through a fence and flipped in the parking lot of the Hiway Federal Credit Union.
The suspects' car came to a rest nearby against a fence. The two inside fled on foot. The passenger was nabbed, but the driver remains at large.
The van's lone occupant, Thomas R. Blanck, 65, of Prescott, Wis., was taken to Regions Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Police spokesman Andy Skoogman said late Thursday that police were still looking for the driver of the car that sped away from police. Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
PAUL WALSH AND PAT PHEIFER
LOCAL FICTION: Featuring stories within stories, she’ll discuss the book at Talking Volumes on Tuesday.
