WORTHINGTON — Several local law enforcement agencies were involved in the pursuit of and eventual arrests of four people fleeing officers in multiple counties before being found Tuesday at a bar in Currie, according to a press release from the Slayton Police Department.
Murray County officers were advised by Nobles County Sheriff’s Office that they had discontinued the pursuit of a white Porsche as it entered Murray County along County Road 13. The vehicle was reported to have been involved in pursuits in Lyon and Osceola counties in Iowa, prior to entering Nobles County.
A Slayton Police Department officer observed a vehicle matching the Porsche's description disregard a stop sign. The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop and the vehicle fled. After the vehicle increased speed of 120 mph along US 59, the officer was forced to discontinue the pursuit.
However, later that evening a towing company contacted the Murray County Sheriff's Office regarding a suspicious request to tow a vehicle in Currie.
A tow truck driver had been approached by two men later identified as Brendan Aaron Brown, and Kevan Collin Henry, both from the Bronx, New York.
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According to court documents, the two men wanted their vehicle towed to a Walmart in Marshall. They requested the tow truck driver cover their car with a tarp during the tow and that the driver wait 20 minutes before leaving with the vehicle.
The driver found this strange and called the police.
After gathering vehicle and suspect information officers from the Slayton Police Department, Murray County Sheriff's Office, and Buffalo Ridge Drug and Violent Crime Task Force were able to locate the suspects and the white Porsche, which was positively identified as the one involved in the earlier pursuit.
Brown and Henry were found and arrested at a local bar, where the bartender and patrons informed officers that Brown and Henry had come in with two other men. After being identified by the bartender, one of the men, Jonathan Chacon, 27, was searched by officers, and reportedly found to be carrying a small plastic baggie with white residue that later field-tested positive for cocaine. Chacon, a Rahway, New Jersey, resident, has since been charged with fifth-degree drug possession, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and or a $10,000 fine.
The fourth man — later identified as Rafael Pete Rodriguez, 42, of Newark, New Jersey — was also arrested at the bar, where he gave officers a false name. Officers reportedly also found several fake ID cards on his person. He has been charged with a felony count of fifth-degree drug possession as well, along with two misdemeanor counts for giving a peace officer a false name and possessing fictitious or fraudulently altered identification.
Brown, 19, who officers reportedly determined was the driver of the Porsche, was charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony-level offense that carries a maximum sentence of three years and one day in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. He has also been charged with driving at a speed greater than reasonable, a misdemeanor, and failure to stop at a stop sign, a petty misdemeanor. Henry, 22, was charged with aiding an offender to avoid arrest, also a felony-level offense. This charge carries a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment and/or a $5,000 fine.
All four men were detained in Lyon County Jail and later released on bail. They have been scheduled to make their initial court appearances on March 28.
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