Adobe Stock Image
A Montrose man was formally charged Monday in connection with a high-speed police chase that began Friday night, April 4, in Eden Prairie and ended in a crash and foot pursuit in Minneapolis.
Jerrold Preston Nagel, 33, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with two felonies: fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent. Eden Prairie police arrested him that night following a chase that began near Eden Prairie Center. Eden Prairie Local News previously reported on the incident before charges were filed.
He remains in custody at the Hennepin County jail with bail set at $50,000. His first court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, in Minneapolis.
According to the criminal complaint, Eden Prairie police were alerted to a stolen vehicle shortly after 9 p.m. on April 4 by a Flock license plate reader near Scheels in Eden Prairie Center. Flock cameras scan passing license plates and alert police to vehicles flagged as stolen or connected to crimes. Officers located the vehicle, a black 2014 Buick Regal, exiting the nearby McDonald’s parking lot and attempted a traffic stop. The driver, later identified as Nagel, fled at high speed.
Police said the vehicle reached speeds over 100 mph as it traveled through Eden Prairie and into Minneapolis. A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter responded to assist with tracking the vehicle, prompting officers to disengage from the pursuit.
The car crashed into another vehicle at an intersection in south Minneapolis but continued driving. The driver then fled on foot. Officers arrested Nagel nearby.
Nagel told police he had swallowed methamphetamine and fentanyl. A search warrant was obtained for a blood draw, and he was taken to a hospital. After being discharged, he was transported to the Hennepin County jail.
The Buick had been reported stolen earlier that day in Maplewood, the complaint states.
Nagel has a prior felony conviction for driving while impaired in North Dakota in 2015.
He also faces unrelated misdemeanor charges in Hennepin County stemming from a 2022 vehicle break-in in Maple Plain. In that case, filed earlier this year, he is accused of damaging multiple vehicles and stealing stereo equipment. The case remained unsolved until October 2024, when investigators matched Nagel’s fingerprints to one of the vehicles, according to court records.