2 charged with dragging, injuring state trooper during traffic stop
BLUE EARTH, Minn. (FOX 9) - Two Wisconsin men have been charged with dragging and injuring a Minnesota state trooper during a traffic stop in southern Minnesota last week.
Trooper Doug Rauenhorst and his partner pulled over a Jeep last Thursday on Interstate 90 in Faribault County for a traffic violation. The troopers suspected the driver and passenger were dealing drugs.
Rauenhorst was partly in the vehicle when the driver accelerated and the passenger punched the trooper to try to force him out of the Jeep. The trooper was reportedly dragged along the freeway before falling out of the moving Jeep.
The vehicle drove off. Authorities attempted to follow the vehicle, but then called off the pursuit.
Rauenhorst was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital and released.
Authorities later found the vehicle abandoned in Albert Lea. The two suspects were eventually arrested and booked into the Faribault County Jail.
Bundles of marijuana were found along the pursuit route, according to Albert Lea police.
Anthony Hector Enriquez, 20, and Montrell Antonio Smith, 29, both of Milwaukee were charged Monday with fleeing police, third-degree assault and felony drug possession.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.