A Richfield man pointed a gun at a man outside a White Bear Lake Speedway and then led police on a 22.7-mile chase at more than 128 mph in a stolen Kia, according to the complaint.

Jaime Alexis Escoto Rodriguez, 30, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with three felonies: threats of violence, theft of a motor vehicle and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. Bail was set at $75,000.

According to the complaint, an officer pulled into the Speedway lot on White Bear Avenue at about 9:28 p.m. Nov. 1 when two men waved him down. One of them said a man had just pointed a gun at him and gotten into a black Kia Sedona with no license plates. The Kia then sped out of the lot.

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A second officer tried to stop the Kia, but the driver took westbound Interstate 694 at more than 100 mph, driving on the shoulder and swerving through traffic, the complaint says. He reached more than 128 mph on Highway 10 and more than 120 mph on Mounds View Boulevard before Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies took over the pursuit. It ended in Anoka after police there laid stop sticks and deputies used a PIT maneuver to disable the Kia. The chase covered 22.7 miles.

Escoto Rodriguez was the only person in the Kia, according to the complaint. Police learned it had been reported stolen in Minneapolis at about 5:19 p.m. that day. A search found a punched ignition but no gun.

The victim told police he was behind the store on the phone when he noticed a man sitting on the curb near the Kia, which had no plates. He said he tried to make conversation, but the man stood up, took a gun from the passenger side of the Kia and pointed it at him while threatening him, the complaint says. He told police he was very scared and thought he would be shot if he had not backed up.

A store employee told police he went outside after the victim reported the gun and the man by the Kia asked him if he had a problem. The employee said he did not see a gun himself. He said the Kia had sat unoccupied beside the building for about two hours.

Escoto Rodriguez declined to talk with police, according to the complaint. The complaint says he has prior convictions.

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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.