A Shafer man has been charged with multiple felonies after prosecutors say he rammed squad cars during a police chase in Eden Prairie and, days earlier, tried to carjack a vehicle in Crystal.
Michael James Nase, 38, of Shafer, a city in Chisago County about 45 miles northeast of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, attempted third-degree carjacking and motor vehicle theft, according to complaints filed Aug. 28 and 29.
On Aug. 26, Eden Prairie police went to a hotel in the 7000 block of Flying Cloud Drive after a report of a woman not permitted on the property, the complaint said. She was with Nase, who was wanted in connection with burglaries and vehicle thefts.
Officers saw him in a stolen white conversion van. When they tried to block him in, Nase rammed squad cars, drove through a field and into oncoming lanes of Highway 212, according to the filing. Police ended the chase for safety reasons. The van was later found crashed at a roundabout at Washington Drive and Interstate 494.
Bail in that case was set at $50,000 with conditions including no weapons and no alcohol or drug use.
Four days earlier, on Aug. 22, Nase drove another stolen vehicle to a home on Vera Cruz Lane North in Crystal and tried to take a second car in the driveway, according to a separate complaint.
When the homeowner confronted him, Nase kicked the man in the midsection and swung at his face before fleeing in the stolen vehicle, which was later found abandoned in Columbia Heights. Ring camera video and a duffel bag left behind identified Nase as the suspect, the complaint said.
Bail in the Crystal case was set at $150,000, with conditions including no contact with the victim. Prosecutors also filed notice they may seek an aggravated sentence.
On Aug. 29, the U.S. Marshals Service said its North Star Fugitive Task Force and Eden Prairie police arrested Nase in Minneapolis after a foot chase and brief standoff. The Marshals said he was also wanted on a state parole violation related to his sex offender status.
As of Sunday, Aug. 31, Nase remained in custody at the Hennepin County jail. His first appearance on both cases is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, before Judge Jeannice M. Reding in Minneapolis.
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