Rochester, MN : Chase covers three counties ends in crash on Tuesday, August 15, 2017

A car chase Monday that ended with a crash south of Dodge Center began with an incident in Rochester, authorities said today.

Local police were called at 6:24 p.m. to a group home in the 5400 block of U.S. Highway 63 South for a report of an assault.

The caller said a resident — identified as Scott Skjeveland, 48 — had assaulted another resident and a staff member, broke some windows in a door, then left in a state-owned vehicle, the report says.

As an officer responded, he spotted the vehicle driving south on U.S. 63. The officer activated his emergency lights for a traffic stop, but the driver accelerated, said Capt. John Sherwin. The officer stopped the pursuit but followed the vehicle.

"As soon as he shut his lights off, the guy drove at a normal speed," Sherwin said. When the vehicles reached a stoplight in Stewartville, the officer again activated his lights, the report says, and once again, the driver accelerated.

Because the original incident didn't merit a pursuit — and because of Skjeveland's alleged erratic driving — the officer backed off.

Members of the Minnesota State Patrol and Mower County Sheriff's Office heard the scanner traffic, said Chief Deputy Mark May, and about 7 p.m., one of his deputies spotted the vehicle on Minnesota Highway 16.

The eastbound deputy was forced to brake and swerve out of the way, May said, because Skjeveland reportedly was driving west but over the center line.

The deputy turned around and pursued Skjeveland, who turned north onto U.S. Highway 56 and continued to drive erratically, May said.

Law enforcement deployed stop sticks three times on U.S. 56, but Skjeveland was able to avoid the first two, the report says.

Dodge County Sheriff's deputies got involved as Skjeveland continued north, deploying stop sticks near Dodge County Road 6.

Skjeveland swerved to avoid the sticks, but the stolen vehicle's rear tire hit one of the spikes, May said, and Skjeveland allegedly accelerated to 80 to 100 mph.

His vehicle then crashed into a southbound vehicle driven by Larry Wayne Knutson, 70, of Blooming Prairie.

Skjeveland's car went into the ditch, the report says; he tried to drive through a field, then drove back onto U.S. 56, where the vehicle finally stopped.

Knutson and his passenger, Linda Margaret Knutson, 68, also of Blooming Prairie, were taken by ambulance to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys Campus with injuries that were described as not life-threatening.

Skjeveland, too, was taken to the hospital, then released into the custody of the Mower County Sheriff's Office.

He faces multiple felony counts within the three counties involved.

Source :
Chase covers three counties; ends in crash