MOORHEAD – A Fargo man is in custody after being accused of leading police on a boozy, low-speed chase through the snow Wednesday morning.
Fargo Police Lt. Mike Mitchell said an officer in the 2300 block of Seventh Avenue North Tuesday night spotted a car weaving eastbound through the snow from one side of the road to the other as it headed toward 25th Street.
That’s when the car bumped up onto the curb and took out a stop sign while traveling at between 10 and 15 mph, Mitchell said.
The officer followed as the vehicle knocked into another sign on University and Main, Mitchell said, never going above 15 mph.
While Fargo police don’t usually pursue through the city, officers do have some discretion, Mitchell said, and the officer deemed it safer to follow the slow-moving, bumbling vehicle in his squad with the lights on.
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Moorhead Police Sgt. Deric Swenson said his department was alerted about 11:44 p.m. to the wrong-way driver headed their way near 15th Street and Main Avenue in Fargo.
By then, the driver had also possibly crossed into the oncoming traffic lane at points and was still eastbound on Main Avenue fleeing Fargo police at about 15 mph, Swenson said.
The fleeing vehicle crossed into Moorhead via Main Avenue and Moorhead police deployed stop sticks near Main and Fourth Street.
Swenson said the driver, Wyatt Larson of Fargo, was combative with officers after being arrested, and had to be forced out of the car.
Larson, 27, is being held on suspicion of third-degree charges of driving while intoxicated and gross misdemeanor obstruction of justice.
