Pursuit by federal agents leads to multi-car crash in St. Paul
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Updated 2:31 p.m.
The St. Paul Police Department said a multi-car crash on Wednesday was caused by federal agents pursuing a person in a vehicle. The person being pursued had non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to the hospital.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it was a targeted stop of a person from Honduras who “tried to evade law enforcement and began driving recklessly and ran red lights, endangering public safety and law enforcement.”
At least three cars had damage from the crash, which happened outside Nina’s Coffee Cafe at the intersection of Western Avenue North and Selby Avenue. DHS said one of the damaged vehicles was an ICE vehicle.
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“The incident today at Selby and Western underscores the fact that ICE is still present, causing chaos, and putting residents at risk,” St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said in a statement Wednesday.
Liz lives by the site of the incident and heard the crash. MPR News is only using her first name to protect her safety. She said she saw a person crawl out the window of a red Toyota Prius onto the ground and run across the street while a federal officer chased him.
“He was saying, ‘I’m going to tase you, I’m going to tase you’ and I was trying to yell out my window for him to go around the front the building so I could let him in, but he never made it around,” Liz said.
Abdi Ali was in the middle of the intersection when he saw the Prius speed up behind him and hit his vehicle. Then, the car crashed into Becky Zea’s car. Both confirmed to MPR News they were uninjured, but in shock from the scene.
“I just thought somebody was speeding. I didn’t quite realize what was happening until I got out of my car and then I saw the officer who was ICE had gotten out of the car and was pursing the man or woman on foot and no one came to check on me,” Zea said.
Ali said this is the second time he’s had a run-in with federal agents. The first time he said he was stopped outside of a grocery store and asked for his ID.
“I asked them, ‘What’s the reason you’re stopping me?’” Ali said. “ICE has just been causing chaos. They have not done anything positive at all.”
The police department said it’s writing a report on the matter and referred all other inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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