Suspect nabbed after chase
BEMIDJI — A 36-year-old California man was taken into custody Wednesday night following a brief chase at speeds approaching 100 mph.
Officers with the Bemidji Police Department were originally called at 6:39 p.m. to the intersection of 14th Street and Park Avenue NW. A white Lincoln Navigator with California license plates driven by Jeramie Pilecki fled from police there.
Pilecki has a former address in Blackduck, according to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, but was carrying a California driver’s license with an address in Rancho Cordova when he was arrested, police said.
Pilecki fled north on Paul Bunyan Drive SE and outside of city limits. There, he turned off his headlights and began driving erratically, reaching speeds near 100 mph, Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said.
Eventually, Pilecki turned north on Wildwood Road NE where he lost control of his sport-utility vehicle, struck a mailbox after careening into a ditch and fled into the woods.
Officers from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota State Patrol, Blackduck Police Department and Leech Lake and Red Lake tribal police assisted Bemidji police in tracking Pilecki, who was arrested just before 7 p.m.
Police would not say what charges Pilecki had been booked on Wednesday night.
Suspect nabbed after chase
