A man was caught on video wrestling a state trooper, escaping, running across all six lanes of Interstate 94's traffic during Monday morning's rush — and then he flagged down an SUV driver and hopped in the vehicle, which then headed into a tunnel and disappeared from the camera's sight.
The 5:50 a.m. incident south of downtown Minneapolis near the Lowry Hill Tunnel was caught on a Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic camera, the StarTribune reported, citing State Patrol Lt. Gordon Shank.
The trooper was "providing assistance to a motorist and vehicle on the side of the road," Shank told the paper, adding that the "individual involved with the vehicle eventually fled on foot and entered a vehicle on the other side of I-94."
Video showed the man in the back seat of the trooper's squad car before he exited the vehicle and wrestled with the trooper as a tow truck arrived to load the car, the paper said.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
The man got away from the trooper, ran along the side of the highway, and then darted across all the interstate's lanes.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
Bizarrely, the man managed to flag down an SUV driver and got into the vehicle.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
According to WCCO-TV, he entered the SUV through the window of the passenger-side front door. Indeed, video captures what appears to be the man's sneaker-clad foot entering the SUV last.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
Seconds later, the SUV driver was headed into the tunnel and out of the camera's sight.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MN_CRIME
KMSP-TV said it's unclear if the man knew the SUV driver.
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Shank didn't say what type of assistance the fleeing motorist needed, the paper reported, adding that he hadn't been located as of Tuesday morning. Investigators are still trying to figure out his identity, WCCO noted.
The trooper was not hurt during the scuffle, Shank added to the paper.
It doesn't appear clear why the man scuffled with the trooper and ran away in the first place.
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