A 41-year-old Pennington man led a sergeant on a chase at about 110 mph while the patrol vehicle was pelted with small rock-like objects, then was found curled up beside a large rock in the woods, according to the complaint.
The sergeant had been told early Nov. 8 that the car of Kyle Walter Nelson was being tracked electronically. He had confirmed that Nelson’s driving status was cancelled as inimical to public safety. At 12:53 a.m. he saw the car roll past a stop sign without a full stop and turn west on Highway 200, he wrote. When he turned on his emergency lights the driver slowed and pulled to the right but kept going. When he added the siren the driver sped away.
Right after the driver bolted, small rock-like objects began hitting the patrol vehicle. The sergeant thought the occupants might be dumping drugs. A Beltrami County deputy waiting at an intersection deployed stop sticks. On U.S. Highway 71 the driver went into a ditch. A man got out of the driver’s seat and ran west into the woods.
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Two other people in the car cooperated. The sergeant and a police dog tracked the man through a yard and a plowed garden plot into a wood line, where the dog stopped near a large rock. The sergeant saw someone curled up beside it. After repeated commands the man raised his hands. The sergeant recognized him as Nelson.
Deputies found methamphetamine, a digital scale and other paraphernalia in the car, according to the complaint. A deputy who examined Nelson noted bloodshot, watery eyes and clammy skin. Nelson said he was prescribed Suboxone and Adderall, which the complaint notes contains amphetamine. His eyes jumped ahead of the stimulus on the gaze test, though the deputy saw no clues of impairment on the walk-and-turn or one-legged stand. A urine sample was collected after the deputy applied for a search warrant. The complaint does not report a result.
Nelson is charged in Hubbard County District Court in a complaint filed Nov. 9 with two felonies. First-degree driving while impaired, alleging any amount of a Schedule I or II controlled substance in his body within 10 years of three or more qualified prior impaired driving incidents, carries up to seven years in prison or a $14,000 fine or both. Fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle carries up to three years or a $5,000 fine or both. The complaint lists three earlier first-degree DWI convictions, from 2018, 2019 and 2022.
