Crookston, MN - A man was killed and his passenger injured Saturday afternoon when a theft suspect fleeing police in Crookston, Minn., stole a police squad car and crashed it into a pickup truck.
Crookston Police Chief Tim Motherway said that two officers responding to a property complaint near the Veterans of Foreign Wars building in Crookston shortly after 2 p.m. confronted a suspect after he had walked into Crooks Club Bar, 223 N. Main St.
The officers fought with the suspect, a 23-year-old Crookston man. Despite being tased and maced, “he was able to get away from the officers and steal (their) squad car,” Motherway said.
The suspect fled south on Main Street about five blocks and lost control of the police car at South Main and old Highway 75 near the Crookston Fire Department, striking a Chevy S-10 pickup in the driver’s door and killing the driver, authorities said.
A female passenger in the pickup was taken to RiverView Health in Crookston, where she remained tonight with non-life-threatening injuries. A nursing supervisor said no condition report was available.
The names of the pickup driver and his passenger were withheld pending notification of relatives.
The suspect received what authorities called non-life-threatening injuries in the crash. He was taken to RiverView by a passerby, according to Crookston police.
When officers went to RiverView, “there was another altercation with the suspect, who was taken into custody,” police said in a statement released tonight. The suspect remained at the hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Both vehicles involved in the crash were totaled, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report.
“Nobody from here saw it happen, but it was a pretty loud bang that we heard from inside the fire station,” Crookston Fire Capt. Bob Magsam said.
He said six firefighters rushed out to assist at the scene.
The Minnesota State Patrol, assisted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Crookston Police, is investigating the incident.
