Richfield Man Crashes Motorcycle During Police Chase

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A Richfield man was arrested after fleeing police on his motorcycle, crashing the bike and fleeing again before he was finally located in a hotel parking lot with a scuffed-up helmet and jacket.

Jesus Martin Luna-Ortega, 20, 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.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Bloomington Police Investigator Warren Jones, an officer was on patrol in the 900 block of East 78th Street just before 3 p.m. July 29 when he spotted Luna-Ortega’s motorcycle going 62 mph in a 35 mph zone.

The officer turned on his emergency lights and siren and began pursuing the motorcycle, which went through a red light at 12th Avenue South, get onto Interstate 494 and then onto northbound Highway 77.

The officer followed Luna-Ortega onto Highway 77, but lost sight of him, the complaint said. He returned to the I-494/Highway 77 interchange and spotted fresh motorcycle tracks in the grass beside the ramp.

While the officer was examining the tracks, a Minnesota state trooper arrived and said he was responding to a reported motorcycle crash at that location. According to the complaint, witnesses told State Patrol dispatchers that they had seen a motorcycle miss the cloverleaf at Highway 77 and I-494 and come up the grassy embankment before it tipped over and crashed.

The Bloomington officer continued searching for the motorcycle. Just before 3:45 p.m., he spotted a motorcycle and a group of people in the parking lot of the Hyatt hotel on International Drive in Bloomington.

The officer recognized the motorcycle as the one he had been chasing, and he recognized a scuffed-up jacket and helmet draped over the bike’s damaged handlebars, according to the complaint. He also noticed that Luna-Ortega had dirt on his shorts.

Police spoke to a witness in the parking lot, who said Luna-Ortega had told the group that he had been chased by the police and that he had crashed his motorcycle, according to the complaint. Another member of the group said Luna-Ortega was supposed to meet them at a swimming pool in Eagan, but had called and asked them to meet him at the hotel instead.

Officers checked Luna-Ortega’s record and learned that his driver’s license is suspended and he isn’t licensed to drive a motorcycle.

Luna-Ortega is free on a $20,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Aug. 30 in Hennepin County District Cour