AUSTIN, Minn. – A man in is jail on multiple charges after a Wednesday afternoon police chase.
Mark Allen Carpenter, 45 of Albert Lea, is facing two counts of fleeing a peace officer, giving a peace officer a false name, and 5th degree drug possession.
Austin police say they were called to the Kwik Trip on West Oakland Avenue around 2:30 pm to investigate some suspicious activity. They were told a man had left the store and driven the wrong way down a one way street. An officer says he soon spotted that vehicle and tried to stop it in the 2200 block of West Oakland Avenue.
Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger says the driver, Carpenter, identified himself as a “Jeremy Johnson.” The officer on the scene says the photo of Carpenter’s driver’s license did not match and he told Carpenter to get out of the vehicle several times. The officer says he shot Carpenter with a taser when he put the vehicle in gear but only one of the barbs hit him.
Krueger says that started a chase toward Interstate 90 where Carpenter crashed while trying to take the exit. Police say he tried to run away under the bridge and up the hill of the eastbound ramp before he was tackled.
Police say a search of Carpenter and his vehicle turned up 2.92 grams of methamphetamine, 3.93 grams of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. Officers say Carpenter explained his attempt to escape by saying he knew there was a warrant out for his arrest for a gun possession crime.
