An Oakdale man was charged Monday with a wild Friday afternoon police chase that started in North St. Paul, continued into neighboring communities and ended in St. Paul.
Raymond Matthew Magnuson, 25, drove the wrong way on roads and highways, jumped medians, entered an interstate exit ramp, damaged property and injured at least one person in his attempt to avoid police, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
He was charged with fleeing peace officers in a motor vehicle and first-degree damage to property caused by a foreseeable risk of bodily harm.
In June, Magnuson pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to another charge of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. He was sentenced Monday to four months in jail, with credit for two months served, and three years of probation. He was also given a stayed one-year prison sentence.
Authorities previously reported that Friday’s chase caused about 10 crashes in Maplewood and White Bear Lake. At least one person was taken to the hospital for treatment, the charges said.
After Magnuson and another man were caught shoplifting in a North St. Paul Target store, they fled in a GMC pickup truck with Arizona license plates just after 1 p.m. Friday, the complaint said.
When a police officer in a squad car tried to box the truck in, Magnuson sped up, struck the front end of the car, dragged it sideways about six feet and drove off at more than 70 mph, the charges said.
Magnuson hit two more vehicles, causing a chain-reaction that damaged a third while turning north onto White Bear Avenue, nearly struck a pedestrian on the sidewalk of Old White Bear Avenue, and narrowly missed striking a gold sedan before turning onto Whitaker Street in White Bear Lake, where he crashed into a Honda Accord, the complaint said.
After a brief pause, Magnuson continued his flight, driving the wrong way on streets and toward oncoming traffic, the charges said.
Citizens reported at least two more hit-and-run incidents involving the truck and told police that the driver had jumped a median on U.S. 61 and driven the wrong way through traffic before heading onto Burson Avenue in White Bear Lake, the complaint said.
A Minnesota state trooper caught up with the truck on Interstate 35E, where it made a 70 mph exit onto Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul, driving through stop signs and going the wrong way down a ramp onto Interstate 35E, the charges said.
A State Patrol helicopter monitoring the truck finally saw it stop in an alley near the 100 block of Genesee Street in St. Paul, the complaint said.
When police knocked on the door of a nearby home, a woman there told them that two men had entered the house earlier, “claiming they were being chased by kids in the neighborhood.” Magnuson was found hiding in the bathroom, along with keys to a GMC vehicle and a bag of suspected methamphetamine, the charges said.
He denied he was the driver and also told police he had ingested both meth and heroin. His companion was found in the laundry room, the complaint said.
The Ramsey County sheriff’s office, Minnesota State Patrol and police departments of North St. Paul, Maplewood, White Bear Lake and St. Paul were involved in the pursuit.