Police: Stolen cab leads lengthy pursuit through Minneapolis, injuring 2

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A 30-year-old man is in custody after police say he stole a taxi cab and led police on a pursuit that injured two people including an officer Thursday morning in Minneapolis.

According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the incident started just after 9 a.m. when a Blue and White Cab was stolen in the area of Ninth Street and Nicollet Avenue. The cab company found the vehicle on its GPS, showing it was being driven near 69th Avenue South and York Avenue.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle at 50th and Xerxes, but the cab accelerated away, striking an officer that was on foot and hitting a squad car. The officer who was struck sustained minor injuries.

The pursuit was called off after the vehicle started driving on the bike path by Lake Harriet and the Rose Garden. A State Patrol helicopter assisted in the search, keeping a law enforcement eye on the vehicle after officers on the ground stopped the chase.

The cab went on to strike a pedestrian at Portland and 18th Street before stopping, backing up and driving over the pedestrian again. The pedestrian, a man in his 30s, is in serious, but stable condition at HCMC Thursday afternoon.

The suspect then traveled the wrong way on Portland before turning onto 18th Street, where officers tried to box in the cab. The cab rammed a squad car and continued eastbound into downtown, however.

Squad cars pursued the vehicle through downtown and into a parking ramp underneath the Federal Building at Third Street and Third Avenue South. The chase ended when the driver reached a dead end.

The suspect was uninjured.