This browser does not support the Video element.
Dramatic video captures crash on I-35E involving teens in a stolen Kia, police say
New video shows a chaotic crash of a stolen rental car involving four teens. Traffic cameras captured police trying to stop the vehicle on I-35E in Little Canada. The car crashes into the median twice and four people come running out and across the busy highway. All four were arrested. (Video courtesy of MN Safety)
St. Paul, Minn. (Fox 9) - Traffic cameras captured a dramatic crash late Saturday afternoon in Little Canada: the footage shows a group of teenagers in a stolen Kia smashing into a median on Interstate 35E northbound after the driver attempted to avoid police stop sticks.
The video then shows the group of four teens jumping out of the smoking vehicle and running across the highway, dodging traffic to flee to the other side of the road. There, State Patrol Troopers were waiting and arrested all four: a 14-year-old-boy and three girls ages 15-17.
Authorities said two of the girls had minor injuries and were taken to the hospital.
According to St. Paul Police Public Information Mike Ernster, the incident began around 5:30 p.m. when a rental car company contacted St. Paul Police saying they had a GPS tracker on a 2021 Kia Forte that had been stolen in Minneapolis and was headed to St. Paul.
St. Paul Police requested assistance from a State Patrol helicopter, and the pilot used the coordinates from the GPS tracker to locate the car as it came to a stop on Portland and Dale streets in St. Paul, according to Ernster.
As St. Paul Police squad cars converged on the vehicle, the teens got back in and the driver sped away. Officers did not pursue the car as it was traveling through a residential neighborhood, per department policy, but a State Patrol helicopter continued to track the Kia as the driver drove erratically down city streets and onto the highway, Ernster said.
The crash occurred on 35E northbound by the exit to 694, roughly 15 minutes after the incident first began, according to Ernster.