MOORHEAD - Police say a man who fled a traffic stop in Moorhead early today ended up crashing his car in downtown Fargo and fleeing on foot onto the partially frozen Red River.
The man broke through the ice, and officers used floating rescue ropes to pull him from the icy river after several minutes, Moorhead Sgt. Rob Matheson said.
Jerrid Scott Maes, 26, of La Junta, Colo., was arrested on suspicion of fleeing, possession of a controlled substance and multiple traffic offenses. He was taken by ambulance to Sanford Medical Center to be treated for exposure-related symptoms.
Maes allegedly refused to stop for a Moorhead patrol officer who tried to pull him over at 2:46 a.m. in the 1000 block of Center Avenue. A pursuit in the downtown area lasted several minutes and reached speeds of 40 to 50 mph, Matheson said.
After crossing the Center Avenue/NP Avenue bridge into Fargo, Maes lost control of the car and crashed at Mid America Steel at 2:59 a.m., police said.
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Maes allegedly ran from the crash scene and onto the partially frozen river. He broke through the ice several times, but because of the low river level, he was able to keep from slipping under the ice, police said.
"He was, fortunately for him, close enough to the bank where the water was waist deep or so ... and eventually we were able to get a rope to him and get him out of the water," Fargo Sgt. Mike Erbes said.
