On January 12, 2026, at approximately 4:52 A.M., Deputy Donald Roberts of the Itasca County Sheriff's Office was in his squad, parked along the eastbound lane of US Highway 2 in Deer River, Itasca County, when he observed a grey Honda Accord bearing Minnesota license plate [PLATE REDACTED] leave the Holiday gas station and travel in his direction. The vehicle was traveling at a very slow rate of speed. Said Deputy entered the license plate number into his mobile data computer, which revealed the identity of the registered owner as R. D. W., whose driving privileges came back as "expired." As the Honda passed by his squad, said Deputy further noted that it had no taillights.
He observed the driver to be a male wearing a baseball cap with shoulder length hair. The driver was slumped down in the seat with his head tilted down and away from said Deputy, as if to avoid detection. Said Deputy pulled his squad onto Highway 2 with the intention of initiating a traffic stop, at which time the Honda's taillights came on along with the left turn signal, in which a left turn was not possible given the vehicle's location. The Honda then accelerated to avoid contact with said Deputy with the Honda's speed exceeding the 40 MPH speed limit posted in town and the 60 MPH speed limit outside of city limits.
Said Deputy followed the Honda on Highway 2 for approximately a half mile until it turned southbound on County Road 11. Said Deputy then activated the emergency lights and siren on his squad while attempting to close the distance on the suspect vehicle. Despite traveling 113 MPH, said deputy could not close the gap. The suspect vehicle turned south on Highway 6 and traveled several miles before turning westbound on County Road 28. Deputy Roberts continued pursuing the Honda traveling at 113 MPH, still not gaining ground.
Said Deputy was able to keep the suspect vehicle in sight and believed that the driver of the Honda was definitely aware that he was being pursued. The suspect vehicle continued down County Road 28 at a high rate of speed until the road changed to Cass County Road 65. There were several "s" curves on that stretch of road at which time Deputy Roberts elected to terminate the pursuit at 5:07 A.M. Law enforcement created a BOLO for the Honda in an attempt to locate and question the driver. Itasca County deputies then obtained surveillance footage from the Holiday gas station in Deer River, from which the Honda initially emerged onto Hwy 2. The photos from the video were sent to the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Cass County deputies were able to positively identify the driver as Albert Alan Ammerman from the Holiday photos. A record check revealed that Ammerman's driving privileges are cancelled as inimical to public safety. The record check further revealed that Ammerman has two open files in Cass County carrying felony Fleeing a 2 ••-CR-••-•••• Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 2/2/2026 Peace Officer charges (••-CR-••-••••; Two files carrying pending DAC-IPS charges ••-CR-••-•••• & ••-CR-••-••••); and a probationary file with charges of DAC-IPS (••-CR-••-••••). A record check revealed that Ammerman has the following criminal convictions: 06/02/2025 DAC-IPS, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 02/24/2020 DWI, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 06/03/2019 Criminal Damage to Property, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 06/03/2019 Receiving Stolen Property, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 06/03/2019 Domestic Assault, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 07/31/2018 No Insurance, misdemeanor, Cass County 04/24/2017 DWI, gross misdemeanor, Cass County 07/18/2012 DWI, misdemeanor, Cass County 02/28/2011 Domestic Assault, misdemeanor, Cass County Defendant currently has active warrants for his arrest in Cass County Court files ••-CR-••-••••, 11-CR- 25-1739, ••-CR-••-••••, and ••-CR-••-••••. Given Defendant's outstanding warrants and the nature of the current charge, it is requested that the instant complaint also issue by warrant.
