Woman accused of ramming, attempting to take state trooper's gun along I-35E

A Maplewood woman faces three felony charges of intentionally running her car into a Minnesota state trooper's squad car as he sat belted in it along Interstate 35E in St. Paul. The criminal complaint filed Thursday says Andrea Perez, 47, also tried to take the trooper's gun.

Perez was charged with use of deadly force, assault with a deadly weapon in the second degree and attempting to disarm a peace officer in the incident Tuesday afternoon.

Ramsey County prosecutors say Trooper Zachary Hill was parked in his marked car at 3:36 p.m., "entirely" on the right shoulder of I-35E near the Arlington Avenue exit, when a Hyundai Sonata hit the rear of his squad. Hill reported he did not hear brakes and felt a pain in his back.

Hill found Perez bent over the steering wheel's air bag. When he asked if she was OK, Perez told Hill, "You're going to have to shoot me because this isn't going to end well." Then she added that she wanted to be shot because she hit the trooper "on purpose," according to a transcript of squad car audio in the criminal complaint.

But as Hill moved his holstered gun away from the woman, she reached for it and the two struggled. Only after two men stopped to help was Hill able to get Perez to the ground and handcuff her.

Prosecutors say a witness confirmed the Sonata rammed the patrol squad and that a woman grabbed for the trooper's weapon. Squad car video also shows the car veering toward Hill's vehicle, the complaint said. The roads were clear at the time of the incident.

Perez remains hospitalized. Trooper Hill was examined for injuries and released.