Man Leads Maple Grove Police on High-Speed Chase

A St. Francis, Minn., man has been charged with leading Maple Grove police on a high-speed chase that reached speeds of 70 mph in business and residential areas of the city, then telling officers that had they not caught him, he was planning to “shoot people up.”

Andrew Wayne Morton, 30, is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Maple Grove police officers on routine patrol spotted Morton’s car in the area of Hemlock Lane and Main Street on Dec. 30, and noted that the tinting on the car’s windows were too dark to see the driver, according to the criminal complaint, signed by Maple Grove Police Detective Laurel Slawson.

Officers began following Morton, who was tailgating the vehicle in front of him. When they turned on their emergency lights, Morton accelerated, passing cars on the shoulder to get away from the squad car, according to the complaint.

Morton then drove onto Interstate 94, exited on Weaver Lake Road, blew through the intersection and got back onto the interstate, the complaint says. He exited again onto Maple Grove Parkway and drove into the parking lot at Cambria Suites.

Police continued chasing Morton through the parking lot and back onto Maple Grove Parkway, then south toward County Road 30. Morton failed to stop at red lights and continued at speeds that reached 70 mph until he lost control of the car at Larkin Road and Willow Drive in Corcoran, according to the complaint.

Officers arrested Morton and discovered that he had three outstanding felony warrants in Wright County. As they were taking him to the police station, he said he was going to “shoot people up” if they hadn’t caught him, the complaint says.

Morton told officers later that he had been driving around looking for his kids before he turned himself in on the outstanding warrants. He said his ex-wife has a no-contact order in effect against him for herself and the children, and he hadn’t seen them in more than two months.

Morton said he didn’t stop while he was being pursued because he wanted to get away and see his kids. He also admitted that he threw marijuana and methamphetamine out the car window as he was fleeing, according to the complaint.

Morton remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $100,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Feb. 5 in Hennepin County District Court.

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