Puppy thrown from vehicle during pursuit will be cared for by Ramsey County sheriff worker

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
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A Ramsey County sheriff’s employee will care for a puppy thrown from a vehicle during a pursuit this week, the sheriff said Wednesday.

The employee, who is already a dog owner and loves dogs, will serve as a “foster mom while he heals” and until a long-term determination of ownership is made, according to Bob Fletcher. The pup was given the temporary name of Taho.

On Monday night, as a sheriff’s deputy pursued a driver who wouldn’t stop, a 911 call came in. The caller reported that the vehicle the deputy was following had just been carjacked from a woman and she’d been shot in the incident.

The sheriff’s office later determined that the 911 call was bogus, and it came from the fleeing vehicle. One of the suspects threw a dog out of the vehicle, which Fletcher said he believes was also intended as a diversion for law enforcement.

As deputies pursued the vehicle, the suspects tried to carjack at gunpoint a person who pulled over to the side of the road. “This carjacking was thwarted as deputies, in their patrol vehicle with lights and siren activated, quickly caught up,” the sheriff’s office said in a Wednesday statement.

The suspects kept going, driving the wrong way on Interstate 694 in Arden Hills. The vehicle was traveling about 45 mph when deputies saw a white object tossed out a rear passenger door and another vehicle struck it on the highway just before Snelling Avenue, Fletcher said.

Deputies later determined the white object was a puppy and they went out to search for him Tuesday morning. Following tracks, they found the dog hiding in the snow about 50 yards from where he was thrown.

They took the pup to a veterinarian, where it was determined his leg was broken and he had other injuries. He was treated and released from veterinary care Wednesday.

The vehicle was stolen, but deputies believe the dog belonged to one of the suspects who was in the vehicle, Fletcher said. The dog is less than a year old, according to the sheriff’s office.

The vet bill is expected to be $4,000 and the sheriff’s office will seek to charge the person who threw the dog, but in the meantime the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Foundation is fundraising to cover the cost, Fletcher said. Ongoing medical costs are estimated to total $7,500. Donations can be made at ramseysheriffsfoundation.org.

After the pursuit, two women from the vehicle were taken into custody. Two men who ran and allegedly carjacked two other vehicles hadn’t been found as of Wednesday.

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