Kingfield Man Arrested After High-Speed Chase

A Kingfield man who was convicted of murder in 1988 has been charged with fleeing police and tossing a .357-caliber handgun out the window during the pursuit.

Oscar Junior Lee, 46, faces two felony charges in the May 15 incident: being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine, and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, which has a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Lee also is charged with refusing to submit to a chemical test, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis Police Officer Christopher House, police were on patrol in the area of 3rd Avenue and 45th Street South in Minneapolis on May 15 when they spotted a car with a headlight out.

The officers attempted a traffic stop, using their siren. However, the vehicle – later determined to be driven by Lee – didn’t stop, and police pursued him through the streets, where he ran several stop signs, according to the complaint.

During the chase, police saw Lee throw something out the car window near 1st Avenue and Stevens Avenue South, the complaint charges. He pulled over behind his home in the 4400 block of 1st Avenue South, and police arrested him.

Several officers searched in the area where Lee threw an item out of the car and found a .357-caliber Taurus revolver in the bushes, according to the complaint.

While police checked to see whether Lee had a permit to carry a handgun, he said, “That is not my gun, officers. It’s my uncle’s. I borrowed it,” the complaint says.

Officers performed a preliminary breath test, and Lee’s blood-alcohol content was determined to be .12 percent, according to the complaint. At the police station, he was asked to submit to a blood or urine test; after making a phone call, Lee refused, the complaint says.

Lee served two years and two months at the Minnesota Correction Facility in St. Cloud after he was convicted of second-degree murder in Hennepin County in 1988. His criminal record also includes a conviction for first-degree burglary in 1987 and third-degree burglary in 1991, both in Hennepin County.

Lee is free on a $30,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled June 13 in Hennepin County District Court.

Until convicted, all persons listed by police as suspected of committing a crime or listed as charged with a crime by county, state, or federal prosecutors should be considered innocent.

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