Mankato police ram fleeing vehicle, find woman with life-threatening stab wounds
May 31—The Free Press
MANKATO — Mankato police rammed a fleeing vehicle during a chase Tuesday that started in west Mankato and found a female passenger in the vehicle who had been stabbed multiple times and is in critical condition.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the incident.
At about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Mankato Department of Public Safety received a report of a man driving erratically in west Mankato. Officers responded and started to pursue the vehicle but ended the pursuit at that time. The driver of the fleeing vehicle continued to drive erratically so officers restarted the pursuit, according to a press release from the BCA.
At one point, the driver turned down a dead-end road and an officer used his squad car to hit the fleeing vehicle, causing a crash and stopping the driver on Woodhill Trail and Goodyear Avenue next to Calvary Cemetery.
A woman who was a passenger in the fleeing vehicle had been stabbed multiple times. She suffered life-threatening injuries and is in critical condition. A knife was located at the scene where the vehicle crashed.
The driver had minor injuries and is hospitalized. The officer also sustained minor injuries and has been treated from a local hospital and released.
Mankato police asked the BCA to investigate this incident. BCA agents are also investigating the stabbing in connection to this incident.
The officer involved was wearing a body camera and the squad car camera was active, both of which captured portions of the incident.
The investigation is still in the very early stages. More information will be released pending further investigation, the BCA said.
