Cops Cuff One Following Chase through Deephaven

A 21-year-old Excelsior man has been arrested and charged with fleeing from police following an early morning chase in over the weekend.

An officer on routine patrol allegedly spotted Anthony Ryan Brown on Breezy Point Road in Woodland just before 3 a.m. Saturday morning. A traffic stop was attempted, and said Brown immediately hit the gas.

“The officer observed a vehicle traveling the opposite direction going 20 mph,” Johnson said. “The officer turned around to follow the vehicle, and the driver of a 1995 Buick LeSabre rapidly accelerated—trying to elude the officer.”

Brown was able to escape police by zig zagging through residential streets, but the vehicle was spotted a short time later parked in a driveway on Maple Ridge Road. An officer turned his spotlight on the car and reports seeing Brown lying in front of the vehicle. Brown began running when police exited the squad, and a chase ensued.

“The officer gave chase through backyards and over four fences,” Chief Johnson said. “The officer lost the subject behind the houses.”

It was then that several other agencies became involved in the pursuit. As a perimeter was being established and search organized, an officer near where the chase began heard the LeSabre start and drive away.

Officers from Minnetonka, Wayzata and South Lake Minnetonka joined sheriff deputies and a K-9 unit in searching for Brown, but the search was called off at approximately 4 a.m.

One Deephaven officer involved in the foot chase required medical attention and was transported to Maple Grove Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Chief Johnson described the injuries as minor.

Minnetonka police spotted the LeSabre a few hours later on Robinson’s Bay Road with its windows closed and doors locked. The vehicle was impounded, and the owner—identified as Brown—was located and interviewed for several hours by Deephaven police.

“The owner claimed his vehicle was stolen,” Chief Johnson said. “The officer involved reviewed a driver's license photo of the owner, and identified the owner as the subject who ran from him.”

Brown denied being involved in the chase.

“A current picture of the suspect was obtained and shown to the injured officer,” Johnson said. “The officer positively identified the vehicle owner as the suspect who fled on foot. The suspect was wearing the same clothes as he was wearing when he fled.”

Brown was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail. He currently faces one charge of fleeing from police and has been released on bail.