INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — A Dakota County squad car is totaled and a park ranger is recovering after the sheriff says a speeding driver hit the vehicle from behind Sunday morning near Inver Grove Heights.
Sheriff Joe Leko says the park ranger behind the wheel is lucky to be alive after the crash sent him careening into the ditch and into a guardrail.
Leko says the incident stared Sunday around 1:30 a.m. The suspect and another driver are first caught on traffic cameras on Highway 52 as the two leave West St. Paul. The cameras show them speeding for nearly three miles until the collision happens near Interstate 494.
There was also another park ranger following the squad in a truck.
"The first vehicle tried to get between them and ended up hitting one of our park rangers that was in the left lane, sending him into the median, striking a guardrail and then a cable barrier," said Leko.
He says the suspects were traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour.
After the crash, Leko says the suspects took off. The rangers were shaken, but not deterred and determined to track them down.
"The awareness of one of our park rangers to get a license plate of one of the vehicles led us on this investigation and brought us to where we're at today, which is having the two drivers identified," said Leko.
Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows speeding increased particularly during the pandemic and it hasn't really stopped since.
"We need to get in front of that and identify who's doing that, and bring it to an end before somebody gets hurt," said Leko.
The ranger who was hurt had minor injuries. The sheriff says the suspects are 20 and 23 years old. The investigation helped track the two down and the sheriff expects them to be charged on Friday.
"Speed matters and it can have consequences if you're not obeying them," said Leko. "It doesn’t take much to push somebody in the ditch and lose control."
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