Police chase man who stole MN construction truck

A 35-year-old Inver Grove Heights man was arrested after stealing a Minnesota Department of Transportation truck from a construction site Monday and leading police on a short pursuit.

The truck driven by an agency inspector was taken from a construction site on Highway 61 in Hastings, Minn. shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to a spokesperson for MnDOT.

Minnesota State Patrol spokesperson Lt. Tiffani Nielson said troopers and Cottage Grove police followed the vehicle as it traveled at under 55 mph on the highway.

It was near Maxwell Avenue that officers were able to stop the truck about 14 miles down the highway using a "PIT" maneuver, Nielson said, which is when officers stop a fleeing car by forcing it to turn abruptly sideways.

"It's very unusual, first of all, for someone to come into a construction zone and take a vehicle," Nielson said. "Fortunately the pursuit ended pretty quickly and there were no injuries to the driver or to anybody in the public."

The 35-year-old driver was booked for theft of a motor vehicle and fleeing police.

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