A St. Peter man is accused of attempting to evade police on a moped.
Samuel Joseph Wenner, 25. was charged with felony fleeing police in a motor vehicle and petty misdemeanors for failure to display headlights and stop at a stop sign.
According to the criminal complaint, St. Peter police observed a moped traveling north on S. Third Street at 11:18 p.m. June 18, without a headlight on. The moped also failed to stop at the stop sign according to law enforcement.
The moped appeared to be swerving and police activated their emergency lights stop the driver as he entered an alleyway. However, the moped did not stop and turned west onto Nassau Street.
Police activated the siren but the driver continued south onto South 3rd Street and blew past a stop sign. After turning west on Grace Street the driver zipped past another stop sign at 30 mph.
The driver ducked into an alley behind two local business and turned west into another alley. Losing their balance, the driver swerved back and forth before toppling over after making a turn into an alley.
The driver and the passenger both got up and began to flee on foot. They continued to run west despite police commands and law enforcement could not catch up on foot.
Law enforcement then went back to the moped and opened the seat compartment to find a license tab with the owner’s name and address.
St. Peter Police later made contact with the passenger, who admitted they went with Wenner to have a few drinks and gamble before the incident.
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.
