Sex Crimes Suspect Leads MN Deputies, Officers on Wild Pursuit

A man wanted on a felony criminal sexual conduct warrant led Twin Cities-area police and deputies on a car chase Tuesday, crashing into patrol vehicles and driving in a grassy median to elude them. Once his car got hung up in the grass and was boxed in by squads, he armed himself with a knife and officers used less-lethal tactics to put him under arrest, authorities said.

Authorities identified the driver as Andrey Dwayne Harrell, 59, of Minneapolis. He has been booked into the Anoka County Jail, pending formal charges, TwinCities.com reports.

An Anoka County deputy was called to Ham Lake Tuesday evening on a report of a suspicious man in a Saturn sedan watching children in the area.

A check of the car’s license plate showed the registered owner as Harrell and that he had an active arrest warrant for felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct using force or coercion, the sheriff’s office said. He sped away, but the deputy pulled away from the pursuit because of the number of people in the area, the sheriff’s office said.

Soon, a second sheriff’s deputy spotted the car headed south on Highway 65. Deputies and Blaine police officers tried stopping it with spike strips and PIT maneuvers. The determined suspect kept going until his vehicle could no longer move.