Officer hurt when wanted man came to precinct to get friend after DWI arrest, police say
Police say Sunday's incident was the third time in two months that the same officer arrested people in "incidents that began in the parking lot of our police station
By Stephen Swanson
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INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minnesota (WCCO) — The Inver Grove Heights Police Department says an officer was hurt in its parking lot early Sunday morning by a wanted man who came to pick up a friend freshly arrested for driving under the influence.
Police say officers first spotted two people slumped over inside a vehicle just north of the Cub Foods on Cahill Avenue.
The driver was arrested for a drug-related DWI, and her passenger was also arrested for multiple outstanding warrants, police say. The driver was booked at police headquarters and was then set to be released into the custody of a sober driver.
“Now this is where it gets hard to believe, but it’s all true,” police officials said in a Facebook post.
Police say the sober driver who came to pick her up had three outstanding arrest warrants himself, and arrived in a stolen Chevy pickup truck with plates from a Toyota minivan.
The man then sped off as police tried to arrest him, injuring an officer in the process.
Two other officers gave chase with help from several neighboring departments. The truck was soon disabled on Highway 52 by a South St. Paul police officer.
The driver of the stolen truck is being held in the Dakota County Jail and will likely be charged with assaulting and fleeing officers.
Police say two passengers in the truck were detained at the scene but were eventually released from custody and won’t face charges.
The officer struck by the truck suffered minor injuries. Police say Sunday’s incident was the third time in two months that the same officer arrested people in “incidents that began in the parking lot of our police station,” with two of those cases involving vehicle pursuits.
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