by April Scheinoha
Reporter
A Thief River Falls man has been charged after he allegedly arranged to sell suspected methamphetamine to a confidential informant and then led law enforcement on a high speed chase from St. Hilaire to Thief River Falls. Speeds reached over 90 mph during the chase Monday, June 11.
Isaac Victor Kalinoski, 28, Thief River Falls, has been charged with felony conspiracy to commit a third degree controlled substance crime (sale), felony fifth degree controlled substance crime (possession), felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, gross misdemeanor third degree driving while impaired, misdemeanor fleeing by means other than a motor vehicle, and misdemeanor careless driving.
The charges stemmed from a drug investigation involving Kalinoski, according to the complaint. A confidential informant arranged to purchase two eight-balls of suspected meth for $500 from Kalinoski in the parking lot of Broadway Station in St. Hilaire. At about 8:55 p.m. Monday, June 11, officers surrounded Kalinoski’s vehicle after he drove into the parking lot.
However, Kalinoski avoided their attempts at stopping his vehicle and allegedly drove recklessly in the city of St. Hilaire, failing to stop for a stop sign and later turning onto Center Street East at a high rate of speed. While pursuing Kalinoski on 110th Street, the police investigator and a drug task officer saw him throw plastic baggies out of his window. Another task force officer collected the top of a torn zip-top bag off of the road.
Kalinoski continued to flee at dangerous speeds, avoiding other officers’ vehicles as they attempted to deploy stop sticks. He eventually proceeded to Highway 59, where he cut off another vehicle. Officers discontinued the pursuit after Kalinoski failed to stop for a red stoplight in the city of Thief River Falls.
A short time later, police learned a driver had parked a car in the parking lot of River Falls Estates. The driver then ran. An officer soon heard from another witness that a person was running behind some houses in the area of Spruce Avenue and Greenwood Street. While setting up a perimeter, a sheriff’s deputy thought he had seen Kalinoski in a wooded area. Kalinoski was found lying down and trying to hide underneath a shed at that location. The complaint indicated that he was basically carried out of the wooded area since he had a difficult time walking.
After being arrested, he was spitting up blood and told law enforcement that he needed to vomit. Kalinoski was taken to Sanford Medical Center for an evaluation. A warrant was later executed for blood and urine samples.
Earlier, the police investigator had retraced the pursuit route and found a torn plastic baggie on a roadway near the pursuit route. A second search warrant was granted for Kalinoski’s car the following day. Inside, law enforcement found suspected meth in two locations, five hypodermic needles, marijuana pipes, drug paraphernalia and fireworks. The meth weighed 0.74 grams.