SCANNER: Taxi Thief Runs Over Pedestrian, Strikes Squad in Wild MPLS Pursuit
Dispatch audio gives more detail into the wild pursuit of a stolen taxi that led Minneapolis police from the southwest to the heart of downtown and left a pedestrian injured this morning before the driver was apprehended in a parking ramp.
Police had been tracking the Blue & White taxi van since it was reported stolen in downtown Minneapolis earlier Thursday morning. While the vehicle was being tracked, the driver allegedly threw a passenger out of the vehicle near Portland Ave. & E. 18th St. and ran them over before ramming a squad car and continuing downtown.
Paramedics were requested emergent for the pedestrian and that person was transported by ambulance to the hospital. The extent of their injuries wasn't available Thursday afternoon.
The driver was reported to be up onto the sidewalks near Nicollet Mall and driving wildly in the downtown area. MPD officers were assisted in the pursuit by a State Patrol helicopter.
The suspect eventually fled down into the Federal Building ramp near 3rd Ave., where he was met with a dead end and was successfully taken into custody by officers just before 10:40 a.m.
The pedestrian, a man in his 30s, was in serious, but stable condition at HCMC Thursday afternoon.
