The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
On Wednesday my young assistant and myself were on our delivery route going through Minot when we saw something we don’t normally experience in Minot.
It was a high speed chase involving a late model sedan and three, four and finally seven Ward County Sheriff’s Department vehicles.
This happened about 4 p.m., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, just about the time many people are getting off work and commuting through the major thoroughfares.
We were going south on 16th Street and were somewhere between Minot High School and KMOT-TV when we saw and heard several police cars coming down the hill toward us. As I looked, I noticed a gray sedan drift to the left and closer to my lane.
It was my assumption the driver was pulling aside to allow the police cars to pass. As I slowed down to avoid a collision, my assistant said he’s not pulling over, that’s a chase, that’s a police chase.
And sure enough, that’s exactly what was happening. Three cruisers were chasing this car down the hill at, I’m guessing 70 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone. As we got to the next stop light near KMOT, a fourth deputy joined in the chase.
At that point, we were going away from it and the chase went around a bend and down the hill, so we didn’t see any more. However, that wasn’t the end of it.
My assistant asked me why the police were following him and not getting ahead of him. I suggested to her that it’s quite possible the guy is dangerous and the cops are allowing him to be ahead to get him out of town where he is less of a danger than in the city.
If you aren’t familiar with Minot, 16th Street is the main thoroughfare in the western part of town. At the base of that hill I was referring to is Burdick Expressway, the main east-west thoroughfare. On the east end of Burdick is the North Dakota State Fairgrounds.
We ran a couple of quick errands and returned on our route and as we were approaching our next stop, my assistant got a call from one of her friends. The friend told her that her husband, who works at Kum & Go, near the fairgrounds, witnessed a high-speed chase.
The significance of that is the suspect must have turned east at the base of the hill and plowed through downtown Minot going east toward the fairgrounds, where by the way, the Norsk Hostfest was just getting under way.
As we continued our route, my assistant continued checking her phone for updates or news reports on what might have happened, but to no avail.
It wasn’t until I got home on Wednesday night that I saw a TV news report regarding the high speed chase we witnessed hours earlier.
The guy was arrested in northwest Minot, which means, he again drove all the way across town through residential areas to get where he was when he was stopped.
The video showed his car had hit something because the front end was hanging on and bouncing around like a basketball.
By the time the suspect reached northwest Minot, the police used road spikes to stop the car and that was evident as sparks flew from the right, front wheel shown in the TV news video.
As I write this, I don’t know the suspect’s name or what led to the chase. What I do know is that drugs were found in the car after the arrest.
This incident could have been much worse. This individual went through numerous busy intersections, through residential areas and passed at least near the Hostfest where thousands of people were gathered.
I certainly commend the Ward County Sheriff’s Department and the Minot Police Department for handling a potentially dangerous situation in a professional manner. They got this knucklehead off the street without injury or death.
(Marvin Baker is a news writer for the Kenmare News and formerly Foster County Independent.)
