A man being pursued by police on suspicion of assaulting a woman Monday in an Oakdale park drove off in a marked squad car before being chased down, shot with a stun gun and caught, authorities said.
The suspect, a 21-year-old man with no permanent address, was treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul for minor injuries stemming from the incident ahead of what police said are several felony charges. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
The incident unfolded about 10 a.m., starting at Walton Park near the intersection of Hadley Avenue and 15th Street N.
Police Chief William Sullivan said one of his officers suffered a scrape on the leg while going over a fence, adding that it's fortunate no one else was hurt.
According to a police statement:
Someone came to the Police Department lobby to report an assault occurring in the park.
Officers spotted a vehicle "traveling recklessly off-road" through the park near the Police Department's north entrance. Officers' commands for the driver to stop were ignored, and he sped away north on Hadley before crashing about a mile away into a garage in the 6900 block of 27th Street.
The driver ran from the crash scene, at one point displaying "an object … similar to a firearm," demanding that the officers shoot him. The officers identified the object as a cellphone.
