Thieves in a stolen SUV hauling an ATV led Minneapolis police on a late-night chase that stretched deep into Bloomington and ended with a utility pole felled, the trailer coming unhitched and three suspects nabbed early Wednesday, authorities said.

No one was hurt in the pursuit, which began shortly before midnight Tuesday in the 5200 block of 42nd Avenue S. in Minneapolis and ended several miles to the south at the end of 10th Avenue Circle in Bloomington, said Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder.

Three men from Minneapolis were arrested: Shaun W. Blankenship, 22; Matthew D. Johnson, 21; and Jennor T. Neill, 25.

According to police:

Officers answering a call in Minneapolis about a suspicious vehicle interrupted a theft in progress, namely an SUV with a trailer toting an ATV.

The trailer and ATV came off a few miles to the west at 42nd Avenue and 4th Street S.

As the pursuit of the SUV crossed into Richfield and then Bloomington, the stolen vehicle struck and toppled a utility pole. Also along the way, a handgun was tossed from the SUV.

The chase ended when, to the delight of police, the "driver chose a dead-end road," cut through a resident's yard and went over an embankment near the Minnesota River before coming to a crashing halt in the bushes, Elder said.

"The officers were right on top of them" and made the arrests, the spokesman added.

Paul Walsh