A call about a suspicious vehicle escalated into a police pursuit Thursday morning in Wayzata that ended after the suspect rammed a squad car several times and crashed into a civilian's vehicle before being stopped.
Police were called to the area near Wayzata Boulevard and West Broadway by a resident who spotted an unknown man in a driveway. An officer found the man's vehicle and attempted a traffic stop around 6:40 a.m. The suspect backed into the officer's squad car and then took off. The suspect then rammed the pursuing squad car several times as the chase went a short distance through the west-metro suburb. It culminated on Gleason Lake Road, just north of Hwy. 12, where the suspect hit a vehicle and plowed into the side of another Wayzata patrol car, said Police Chief Mike Risvold.
The suspect, a 63-year-old man from Welch, Minn., was arrested around 7 a.m. and taken to the Hennepin County jail, Risvold said.
The motorist whose car he hit was not hurt, but one officer was. That officer was treated for minor injuries at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and released, Risvold said.
The incident created a "real mess," according to a live account of the chase broadcast on the police scanner. Authorities subsequently closed the ramp from westbound Hwy. 12 to County Road 15 for more than three hours.
It was not the only police pursuit during the morning rush hour. Around 6:15 a.m., Edina police chased a vehicle on Hwy. 100. The suspect crashed and rolled north of W. 50th Street, creating a minor traffic backup while two right lanes were closed.
TIM HARLOW
