By Patrick Tepoorten

A request by Pine City law enforcement to keep an eye out for a stolen mini-van heading south, resulted in a high speed chase and a surprising discovery last Thursday in Rush City.

Chisago County Deputy Scott Sellman spotted the vehicle coming toward him while on patrol near the intersection of Dana Ave. and 2nd Street around 3:45 p.m., and turned around to initiate a traffic stop. Instead of stopping though, the vehicle accelerated on to 3rd Street, then Eliot Ave., staying to side streets before racing down Hwy. 361 and turning north on Fairfield Ave.

The race through the city was at speeds of roughly 60 to 70 miles per hour with the driver of the mini-van swerving into oncoming traffic lanes and disregarding stop signs.

Once the chase settled on to Fairfield Ave., the speed increased to roughly 90 mph and Sellman was forced to back off due to the damage being caused to his squad by gravel. The chase would continue up to 550th Street and then back south again on Government Road before coming to a head on west-bound 540th Street.

Officers with the Pine City Police Department were laying in wait on 540th, with stop-strips ready to puncture the tires of the vehicle as it drove by, but the driver chose that moment to pull over and surrender without the aid of flattened tires.

It was at that time that officers on the scene learned that the driver of the vehicle was a 13-year-old Harris resident. Because the suspect is a juvenile, his identity is not being released to the public.