TOWER- What should have been a routine late-night traffic stop earlier this week on the Hoodoo Point Road in Tower turned into a high-speed chase and search which lasted until morning.

At 1:20 a.m. on March 31, Breitung Police Office Dan Nylund attempted to stop a pickup truck that was driving with only its fog lights, on the Hoodoo Point Road near the intersection of Lake Ave. The pickup fled the scene, leading the police on what turned into a 14-mile high-speed pursuit down residential streets in Tower, onto the Junction Road and South Street in Soudan, down Highway 169 to the Y Store, then back to Tower by way of Pike Bay Drive. Once in Tower, the truck drove out onto the ice road that links Hoodoo Point to the Vermilion Reservation.

Breitung Police later discovered the truck had been stolen out of an airplane hangar at the Tower Airport. A suspect or suspects in the case have yet to be identified.

By that time, officers from Bois Forte BIA, Babbitt Police, Minnesota State Patrol, and the St. Louis County Sheriff were on the scene, blocking access roads off the lake, and an officer from the Ely Police was stationed on Highway 169 outside off Soudan, to prevent an escape in that direction.

“Law enforcement did not take their vehicles out on the ice,” said Nylund. “We had all the accesses covered.” Police officers were stationed at ice road access points in Tower and on Bois Forte, Vermilion Houseboats, Aronson Boat Works, and at Hoodoo Point/Tower Airport. Ice conditions are very unsafe this time of year. While vehicles are still driving out on the ice in some areas, Nylund said, spring ice conditions can very unpredictable.

A 20-minute police radio transmission, on the Minnesota Police Clips website, gave a play-by-play description of the chase and search. Once out on the ice, the truck turned off its lights, making tracking its progress difficult, though the truck lights would come on and off as it attempted to navigate an escape.

At one point the truck tried to drive onshore onto reservation land, but when the driver saw a waiting BIA car, it tried to back up onto the ice, hitting a tree and damaging the truck’s drive-train and puncturing the gas tank, according to Nylund.

The truck then drove back onto the ice, where it continued, slowly, on a haphazard course.

Attempts to locate the truck on the ice were made using thermal or night-vision equipment. At some point, the officers on the scene realized the truck had been abandoned, and was moving on its own. It turned out the accelerator had been wedged down to keep the truck moving.

Attempts to track the suspect on foot were unsuccessful. St. Louis County Deputy Tim Officer with his police dog Louis tracked footprints for a time, but apparently rain and wet conditions hampered that effort. Officers traced the suspect back onto land by Hoodoo Point. Officers searched the campground area as well as the airport, but the suspect was never found. The search continued until about 5 a.m., Nylund said.

Law enforcement is not certain if a single person, or multiple individuals, were involved in the theft and chase. A search of the burglarized hangar, which had been entered by prying into the rear door, found one other vehicle with significant damage.

A day or two prior, the airport’s courtesy car was vandalized, in an apparent attempt to hotwire the vehicle. There have also been reports of cabin break-ins and burglaries on St. Odilia Beach Road and Breezy Point Road, according to City Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith.

Nylund said the suspect most likely was familiar with the ice road and area roads.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to call the Breitung Police Department at 218-753-6660.

Listen to the audio clip online at: http://www.mn policeclips.com/audio-st-louis-county-police-chase-near-tower-331.html.