A suspect is now charged in a June pursuit that started in Rice County, went into Owatonna, continued after a tire fell off and ended with the driver getting away on foot.
A social media post and a tipster helped identify the suspect as Jason Dean Batt, 42, of Waseca. He was charged with felony fleeing police and gross misdemeanor driving after license cancellation Thursday in Rice County District Court.
Rice County Sheriff deputy Ethan Solheid observed an occupied car sitting at the Flying J Truck Stop for nearly two hours the early morning of June 28 and followed it when it headed south on I-35, according to a court complaint. The deputy attempted to pull the vehicle over after it touched the fog line multiple times.
The vehicle pulled over on the shoulder but then took off, the charges say. It reportedly reached up to 110 mph, exited into Clinton Falls and got back onto the freeway. The driver got off again at 26th Street in Owatonna, swerved to avoid a tire deflation device thrown on the road by a Steele County deputy and got back onto I-35.
The driver was not able to avoid another set of stop sticks placed on the freeway and then got off on Hoffman Drive in Owatonna. He went eastbound going around 75 mph until the front passenger tire came off as he turned onto North Avenue.
He kept going at 25 mph on Cedar Avenue and 14th Street until a Rice County sergeant got in front of him and tried to force him to stop. Instead he drove onto a sidewalk, jumped out of the moving vehicle and ran. Officers pursued but lost sight of him and could not find him.
A female passenger stayed in the vehicle and refused to identify the driver.
Deputy Solheid checked the passenger’s public social media postings later that day and found a photo of her with Batt and thought Batt looked like the driver. The deputy looked at Batt’s driver’s license photo and became more convinced Batt was the driver he witnessed fleeing, the charges say.
The registered owner of the vehicle was then reached and she reported she loaned the car to Batt.
A few weeks ago a woman called a tip line and told Solheid that Batt told her he was in the pursuit and provided details including where the tire fell off.
Batt has five DWI convictions in Minnesota and has not had a driver’s license since his last DWI arrest in 2014 in Mower County. He was sent to prison after violating probation on that charge and is still on probation.
He was issued a summons to make his first court appearance on his new charges on Sept. 21.
Data included is taken from the Minnesota Department of Health Daily reports. Because all data is preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths.
