A call about an erratic driver in the southwest metro escalated into a police pursuit during the Friday morning rush hour on busy Hwy. 169 in Edina.
State troopers and local police surrounded the vehicle on a bridge near Bren Road at 7:50 a.m., and shut down both southbound lanes for about 15 minutes, leading to a major backup that stretched back to Minnetonka Blvd.
The incident unfolded about 7:30 a.m. when police got a call about a northbound driver swerving all over the road and one of the occupants pointing a gun at another driver on the Bloomington Ferry Bridge. Police ran the license plates of the vehicle and found that there was a warrant for the driver's arrest.
An Eden Prairie officer spotted the car near I-494. The vehicle exited at Excelsior Boulevard and turned back south on Hwy. 169. Police made a "high-risk" stop shortly after, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson of the State Patrol.
The passenger was arrested for terroristic threats and other charges and was booked at the Hennepin County jail, Nielson said.
Charges against the driver could be forthcoming, Nielson said.
One southbound lane was reopened just after 8:05 a.m.
Tim Harlow
