Man Leads Rochester Police On Three Mile Chase

Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - It was a wild scene on a Rochester street Tuesday night.

The incident began around 9:00 PM when police officers were called to the Cenex store at the intersection of 37th St and East River Rd to check on a suspicious vehicle that had been there three hours.

The officers found the car was still running and a man was sleeping in the driver’s seat. The officers began talking to the man and when they spotted brass knuckles and a knife in the vehicle, told him to get out. That’s when he drove off at a high rate of speed, driving west in the eastbound lanes of 37th St.

The officers went after him and the pursuit hit speeds of 70 mph. The chase ended a few miles away when the man crashed at the exit to Marketplace Dr. near the Target store.

Officers found other knives, an airsoft pistol, and a flare gun in the car.

Arrested was 22-year-old Nathanial Braithwaite of Rochester.

News update:  Would-be exposer near St Marys Hospital.