A North Saint Paul man sped away from police in a stolen Toyota SUV after being spotted at a gas station, weaving through oncoming traffic as an officer tried to catch up, according to the charges.
Daniel Charles Bush, 39, faces two felony charges: theft of a motor vehicle and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
According to the criminal complaint, a 2013 Toyota RAV4 was reported stolen in Osceola, Wisconsin, on July 4. The vehicle was entered into the national database as stolen that afternoon. About three hours later, a Maplewood police officer was conducting a traffic stop when the squad’s license plate reader alerted to the stolen Toyota passing by, heading north on McKnight Road North in Maplewood.
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Officers searched the area and found the stolen SUV backed into a parking spot at a Holiday gas station in North Saint Paul. The vehicle was occupied by a driver later identified as Bush. When Bush saw the Maplewood squad car approaching, he quickly drove away, heading south on McKnight Road.
The officer tried to catch up, but Bush turned onto a nearby road and fled at an extremely high rate of speed, weaving in and out of oncoming traffic, the complaint says. For safety reasons, the officer did not pursue.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage from the gas station that, according to the complaint, showed Bush driving the stolen Toyota into the lot, entering the store to make a purchase, then returning to the vehicle. The video captured Bush quickly leaving the parking lot at high speed as the police squad approached.
The next morning, Washington County deputies recovered the stolen Toyota abandoned on a dirt path off the Gateway State Trail near mile marker 10. Maplewood police shared the gas station surveillance footage with the Osceola Police Department, whose officers recognized Bush from previous law enforcement contacts and positively identified him. A Maplewood investigator compared images from the surveillance footage with official photos of Bush and confirmed the identification.
The complaint notes that the estimated private party value of a 2013 Toyota RAV4 ranges from about $10,900 to $11,750, according to Kelley Blue Book.
The complaint says Bush was arrested in October 2025 while driving a truck that had been stolen three days earlier, and that he admitted operating it without a key but said he did not know it was stolen. That case is still active, according to the complaint.
The charges were filed Oct. 2 in Ramsey County District Court.
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Jurisdictional Context
Ramsey County encompasses Saint Paul and is served by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. Felony cases are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown Saint Paul; Ramsey County Community Corrections operates the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in Maplewood.
