By Patrick Tepoorten

A tip from a Holiday gas station clerk in North Branch led to an abbreviated chase and recovery of a stolen vehicle in the early morning hours of March 30.

The tip, which came into the North Branch Police Department at approximately 4:39 a.m., was for a shoplifter leaving the scene. The clerk was able to give a rough vehicle description, a green van, to officer Ron Rollins, who arrived on the scene only moments after the call.

Rollins spotted the green van in the immediate area and was attempting to perform a traffic stop when the van sped away.

Following a short chase, only a few blocks according to NBPD investigator Todd Frank, the driver, later identified as Brian Scott Holzschuh, 42, of Forest Lake, abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot.

Officers from North Branch, the Isanti County Sheriffís Office, Lakes Area Police Department, and the Wyoming Police Department with the assistance of a Chisago County Sheriffís Office canine unit, set up a perimeter and searched for Holzschuh.

He was found a short time later hiding in a parked vehicle and taken into custody without incident.

The green van Holzschuh was driving turned out to be stolen from Nelsonís Auto Sales in North Branch and was recovered.

Holzschuh was arrested for felony fleeing a police officer, felony theft, and possession of stolen property.