Woman, 70, arrested after fleeing officers, pointing fake gun

A 70-year-old Minneapolis woman was arrested after authorities said she fled the State Patrol, pointed what turned out to be a fake gun at a trooper and forced a portion of Interstate 94 to be shut down on Saturday night.

The woman was being held in Ramsey County jail under probable cause of felony assault, fleeing police, driving while impaired and felony terroristic threats. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects before they have been formally charged.

Lt. Gordon Shank of the State Patrol said the incident remains under investigation. The only information available was a State Patrol report released Sunday. According to the report:

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Concordia Avenue in St. Paul, a trooper noticed a Honda Accord in a parking lot entrance that appeared to be entering traffic in the wrong direction. After making a U-turn, the Honda was traveling in both eastbound lanes "at a very slow speed" before entering a closed construction area near Hamline Avenue.

At that point, the woman exited her vehicle and approached the trooper for what was only described in the report as a "brief interaction." The trooper tried to prevent the driver from getting back into her vehicle. That's when she "displayed what appeared to be a handgun and pointed it in the direction of the trooper."

The trooper did not use a weapon in return and the woman fled the construction site in her vehicle. She abandoned her car, which St. Paul police found near the intersection of St. Anthony Avenue W. and Pascal Street, and she fled on foot to the nearby Interstate 94 bridge.

The State Patrol said the interstate was closed "for an extended period of time" in the interest of public safety before the woman was arrested and law enforcement determined the handgun was fake.

The woman was taken to Regions Hospital before she was taken to the jail.

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751