A man fled deputies in a stolen vehicle and took tools from a rural barn before investigators linked him to a second stolen vehicle, according to charges. The pursuit began on Interstate 90 in Winona County early on Sept. 12 and continued into Fillmore County.
Aaron Michael McNamara, 34, of Rochester, is charged with four felonies: motor vehicle theft, third-degree burglary, receiving a stolen motor vehicle and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
According to the complaint, deputies began investigating a vehicle theft in Winona County on Sept. 11. Around 1:15 a.m. the next day, they learned the vehicle was traveling from La Crosse, Wisconsin, toward Rochester and positioned themselves along I-90.
Deputies spotted the vehicle and tried to stop the driver, who fled onto county roads. They ended the pursuit after it entered Fillmore County.
Around 3 a.m., deputies responded to a report of someone knocking on a sliding deck door at a rural Winona County home. They found McNamara nearby wearing ski clothing and carrying a key fob, a zip tie and small hand tools. The key fob was for the same make as the stolen vehicle.
McNamara said he had consumed alcohol and controlled substances earlier that evening. Deputies could not definitively connect him to the stolen vehicle or pursuit at that point, so they drove him to Rochester at his request and released him.
Later that day, a resident reported that someone had entered a barn near the home where deputies had responded. Surveillance video showed a person who appeared to be McNamara entering the barn around 3 a.m. and taking zip ties and small hand tools, the complaint says.
Deputies also learned that a second vehicle had been stolen in Fillmore County, roughly three miles from where the pursuit ended. That vehicle, a light truck, was found crashed in a Winona County ditch.
In its bed, deputies found ski accessories matching the clothing McNamara had worn and a passport belonging to the owner of the first stolen vehicle, according to the complaint.
The complaint also reports that McNamara was arrested in Olmsted County on Sept. 14 and charged with motor vehicle theft in a separate case. A judge issued the Winona County complaint and warrant on Sept. 16.
