The Washington County SWAT team was called in Friday to help Cottage Grove police arrest a combative theft suspect who rammed a police car and hid in a residential garage, refusing to come out.
Shortly after noon, police responded to a call of a theft in progress at the Cottage Grove Target on East Point Douglas Road.
When the officer arrived, the suspect, identified only as an adult male by police, had pushed a cart full of merchandise out of the store to a waiting vehicle, a Honda SUV that had been stolen from St. Paul.
When the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspect drove off. As police pursued, a passer-by in a pickup truck attempted to help and veered toward the suspect’s car, missing and striking the police car instead.
Police continued the pursuit and maneuvered to stop the car, which caused the suspect to spin out. He continued driving through yards, hitting fences until he could go no farther in the 8600 block of Grenadier Avenue.
The suspect put his car in reverse and rammed the squad. He then fled on foot through the neighborhood.
Witnesses pointed officers toward an unlocked detached garage where they had seen the man duck inside.
Police set up a perimeter and called in the SWAT team.
After the suspect refused to speak with negotiators, SWAT officers threw tear gas through a window into the garage and went in after him.
They found him hiding in the trunk of a vehicle. He refused to follow any commands and was combative with arresting officers.
Cottage Grove Police Chief Pete Koerner said the victim was injured as he wrestled police on the broken glass of the garage floor. He was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
Two Cottage Grove police officers were also taken to Regions for evaluation. Koerner said their visit was mostly precautionary, especially for the officer who had been sideswiped by the passer-by during the chase.
The incident remains under investigation and charges are pending, Koerner said.
The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating the crash of the pickup truck with the squad car.