Man fleeing Minneapolis police takes to rooftop, is coaxed down

A man, attempting to evade capture by authorities, rammed a Hennepin County Sheriff's Office vehicle and injured two deputies, led police on a foot chase and broke into a stranger's north Minneapolis home Wednesday evening before crawling onto the roof. Negotiators were able to coax the man off the building after about 3.5 hours without incident, police said.

Two officers involved in the car wreck were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The man was not armed upon his arrest, but police are unsure whether he was carrying a weapon during the break-in. Investigators are combing the property to make sure he didn't ditch a weapon prior to the standoff.

U.S. Marshals and the Hennepin County Sheriff 's Task Force were actively pursuing the 37-year-old suspect for several felony warrants, when they spotted him in a vehicle near the intersection of 40th and Girard avenues N. He struck their car around 5:30 p.m. before fleeing down the 4000 block of Fremont Avenue N. and forcing his way into an occupied single-family home.

Police say he barricaded himself in the home and eventually crawled out a window onto the roof. A Minneapolis police mobile command truck and a SWAT negotiation team arrived to calm him down and eventually coaxed him down a fire ladder.

Several blocks were cordoned off and buses were rerouted during the standoff, where the suspect was seen talking on the phone and with authorities below. When temperatures dipped into the mid-50s after sunset, he sat next to the chimney shivering, with his arms pulled inside his thin tank top.

He surrendered just after 9 p.m., where police transported him to the Hennepin County jail for booking; the Star Tribune will release his name once he's been charged. Over the past 15 years, the suspect has been convicted in numerous counties of assault, aiding and abetting burglary, fleeing police and fifth-degree drug possession.

"The patience was incredible," he said. "It's very difficult to stand and wait, and wait, and wait."

Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648