A Columbia Heights man fled police at speeds over 100 mph in a stolen car after a liquor store theft in Cottage Grove on June 30, 2026, according to charges.
Jason Raymell Richardson, who was 24 at the time of the alleged offense, faces a felony charge of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
According to the complaint, Cottage Grove police officers responded to Grove Liquor Store on June 30, 2026, for a report of shoplifting. Two men entered the store, grabbed bottles off the shelves and ran out with them. Surveillance video shows both men taking liquor valued at $2,704.09 with tax and getting into the same stolen vehicle, the complaint says.
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After the theft, officers pursued the vehicle as it left the liquor store parking lot, traveling at speeds of about 95 miles per hour in a 50-mile-per-hour zone. The vehicle then entered the opposite direction of traffic’s turn lane, driving over 100 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone. An officer attempted a PIT maneuver and struck the vehicle, but it kept going north in the southbound lane of Highway 61 and then took the exit ramp to westbound Interstate 494, where officers lost contact with it, the complaint says.
At 9:44 p.m. that day, Woodbury police received a call about the stolen vehicle, which its owner had tracked to a parking lot in Woodbury. The rear bumper had damage likely caused by the PIT maneuver, according to the complaint.
Video of the pursuit shows the two men riding in the front and rear passenger seats and a third man, whom the complaint identifies as Richardson. The complaint says another man was originally charged with the offense, but investigators later learned that man had been in prison since October 2020. It says Richardson was not in custody on the date of the offense.
Prosecutors requested a warrant instead of a summons, citing active warrants for Richardson, a conviction for escape from custody and public safety concerns, according to the complaint.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years and one day in prison for fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. He is scheduled to appear in Washington County District Court on November 3, 2026.
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Jurisdictional Context
Washington County, on the eastern edge of the Twin Cities metro, is served by the Washington County Attorney’s Office through the Tenth Judicial District. Felony cases are heard at the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater.
