by April Scheinoha
Editor
An Oklahoma man has been charged in Polk County District Court after he allegedly led law enforcement on a chase from the border and through multiple counties Monday morning. The chase ended near Crookston after an officer shot the man, who was armed with two loaded handguns and had placed one of his guns to his head.
Caleb Ryan Coffey, 34, Yukon, Okla., has been charged with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. Coffey, who had been shot in the leg, was taken to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D. After his release, he was arrested. Coffey remains in custody at the Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston. It is unclear if he will face additional charges.
The Polk County charge stemmed from a report at about 9:33 a.m. Monday. According to the complaint, a Marshall County sheriff’s deputy learned that members of the U.S. Border Patrol were pursuing a vehicle that was traveling through Oslo. Afterward, it was learned that the driver, later identified as Coffey, had possessed at least one handgun and had allegedly attempted to cross the border from North Dakota into Canada. The deputy became involved in the pursuit near the intersection of Highway 1 and 390th Avenue Northwest. At the time, the deputy was traveling about 118 mph while pursuing Coffey’s 2011 Cadillac SRX.
Other officers deployed stop sticks on Highway 1 in order to prevent Coffey from entering Warren at such a high rate of speed. Coffey allegedly swerved toward two officers standing near their squad vehicles, drove around the stop sticks and turned south onto 340th Avenue Northwest. Coffey continued driving at about 120 mph. He eventually drove through Euclid at about 100 mph.
North of Crookston, an officer deployed a spiked stop-strip on U.S. Highway 75; however, Coffey swerved around it. Near the intersection of U.S. Highways 75 and 2, another officer deployed a spiked stop-strip. Coffey swerved around it.
Coffey continued driving at a high rate of speed through Crookston, including the downtown area. He eventually turned west onto Polk County Road 9, where he continued driving more than 100 mph for about five miles before his vehicle entered a ditch. Coffey tried to drive the vehicle back onto CR 9, but a Polk County Sheriff’s Office vehicle struck his vehicle.
An armed Coffey then allegedly exited his vehicle and placed the gun to his head. After law enforcement repeatedly told Coffey to drop the gun, an officer shot him in the leg. The 9 mm pistol was loaded with live ammunition. Coffey also had a loaded .40-caliber pistol in a holster on his hip.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Public help sought
Polk County Sheriff Jim Tadman is asking for the public’s help regarding the pursuit, which involved a black Cadillac SRX from about 9:40 to 10:10 a.m. Monday. Tadman asked anyone who was on the following roads, and believed they were put in harm’s way, to contact the sheriff’s office:
• CR 20 between the Marshall/Polk County line and County Road 21
• CR 21 from Sherack to U.S. Highway 75
• U.S. Highway 75 from Polk County Road 21 to U.S. Highway 2
• U.S. Highway 2 from U.S. Highway 75 (near the University of Minnesota Crookston)
• Roadways in the City of Crookston
• CR 9 (KT Road) from Crookston to CR 16
Those individuals are asked to call the sheriff’s office at 218-281-0431, attention Investigations Unit.