The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has released the names of a man who led police on a chase through Austin, Minn., last week and the officer who shot him as he tried to get away.
Last Wednesday, Edgar Fernando Rodriguez, 25, of Austin, allegedly took off when officers spotted his vehicle in the 1900 block of Oakland Avenue E. and led officers on a pursuit with speeds reaching 70 miles per hour, said Jill Oliveira, a spokeswoman with the BCA.
About three minutes into the pursuit, which began around 8 p.m., Rodriguez stopped near the intersection of 19th Street and 5th Avenue NE., authorities said. He then put his vehicle into reverse and rammed an Austin police officer's squad car that had pulled behind Rodriguez's vehicle. An Austin officer identified by the BCA as Adam Scott fired his gun and hit Rodriguez, Oliveira said.
After being shot, Rodriguez tried to drive off, but he was stopped a block away by a sheriff's deputy's maneuver, Oliveira said.
Rodriguez has been released from St. Marys Hospital in Rochester and is currently in the Mower County jail, the BCA said.
Scott, who has been with the Austin Police Department for six months, was put on administrative leave.
The BCA continues to investigate and will forward its findings to the Olmsted County attorney's office for review.
