UPDATED: Two jailed after St. James vehicle theft, pursuits

Tim Krohn, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·1 min read

Nov. 28—ST. JAMES — A 45-year-old Sioux Falls man and a 30-year-old Minneapolis woman are in jail after a series of events surrounding a stolen vehicle and two separate pursuits.

A Chevy Tahoe was reported stolen from a business parking lot in St. James Sunday and surveillance tape showed that someone in a Ford Fusion assisted in the vehicle theft.

Shortly after noon Sunday, a St. James police officer located the Ford Fusion. They say Sherman Dean Kills Plenty fled the vehicle and was apprehended a short time later.

While the officer was bringing the man to jail, officers from the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office and Madelia Police Department stayed with the suspect's vehicle. They observed the stolen Tahoe drive by.

The person in stolen vehicle fled and was pursued by officers from the two police departments and Sheriff deputies. The vehicle drove down a field road and became disabled, with the driver fleeing into a Conservation Reserve Program field that contained tall grass and brush.

Officers from Martin County and Blue Earth counties sheriff's departments, Truman police and fire and State Patrol joined the search and a K-9 dog tracked a scent but later lost it.

Blue Earth County deputies then used a drone and located the female suspect, Tatewi Alexander Keirst Eagle Deer, hiding in an area of brush. She initially refused to give her name and was brought to jail.

The man is facing charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, fleeing, receiving stolen property and aiding and abetting vehicle theft. The woman faces charges of vehicle theft and fleeing.