Suspected carjacker hits five vehicles in St. Cloud, faces felony charge

ST. CLOUD — A St. Joseph man is facing charges for a series of car accidents, a carjacking and refusing to provide a blood sample for drug screening.

The criminal complaint filed on Aug. 21, relating to the Aug. 19 car spree, alleges the defendant hit several vehicles, stole a van and rammed it into an occupied car, hurting the woman inside of it.

At roughly 7 p.m. Saturday outside St. Cloud Hospital, the defendant allegedly hit a white Dodge Caravan, then the alleged perpetrator crawled inside the back of the vehicle before ultimately making his way up to the driver's seat.

After making it to the front of the vehicle, the defendant struggled to steal the van, in part due to the car owner standing in the car’s doorway, holding onto the steering wheel. However, the car owner’s efforts were unsuccessful.

The St. Joseph man allegedly drove off with the car owner still hanging on to the van and carried the owner, who was positioned inside the driver-side door, for approximately 10 feet. The defendant hit his own vehicle, a 2005 tan Subaru, in the process, the complaint alleges.

Shortly after this event, officers were called to another collision on 12th Avenue North in front of North Junior High School where they found the same alleged perpetrator had struck a white Dodge Durango.

The Durango was “severely damaged” in the front and rear with the victim complaining of pain in her left hand, left arm and both legs. After hitting the Durango, the alleged carjacker fled the scene by foot before resting in a nearby patch of grass.

More: St. Cloud man accused of indecent exposure to minors at YMCA

Officers placed the man under arrest at that time. The 35-year-old defendant allegedly told officers he had taken "all the drugs,” the complaint states. Despite admitting he took drugs, the alleged carjacker wouldn’t allow officers and St. Cloud Hospital staff to obtain a blood sample as approved by a search warrant.

After investigating these two initial incidents, officers realized the stolen Dodge Grand Caravan was allegedly involved in another crash at the intersection of Northway Drive and Stearns Way, the complaint states. In this third incident, the St. Joseph resident hit a red Chevy Cruze and continued to rear-end a Black Chrysler 200 at the intersection of Northway Drive and 15th Street North.

A witness of the Northway and 15th Street accident told the St. Cloud Times it was a sight to be seen, saying the collision was forceful.

“I was at the light on 15th Street North and watched in absolute shock over the deliberate and extensive damage,” witness Jody Scott Olson said. “I pulled up behind her (the woman whose car had been hit) on the shoulder as the minivan, (with the) hatch wide open, sped off.”

Olson told the St. Cloud Times she pulled off to the side of the road to help the driver. The victim told Olson she was in town visiting her husband at St. Cloud Hospital and was just beginning her 2 1/2 hour commute home.

"The driver was shaken to the core," Olson said.

The alleged carjacker also hit a stop sign at Sixth Avenue North and Eighth Street North alongside a parked vehicle on Sixth Avenue North before hitting the initial Dodge Grand Caravan, bringing the number of cars collided with to five.

The defendant is facing one felony charge for carjacking and four misdemeanor charges for failure to stop after a collision and refusing to submit to a blood test as required by a search warrant.

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Suspected carjacker hits five vehicles in St. Cloud, faces felony charge