Police Use Stun Gun On Local Man In High-Speed Chase

A Southwest Minneapolis man has been charged with leading police on a chase onto a closed section of highway in the south metro before officers used a stun gun to coax him out of his vehicle.

Demery Cori McLaughlin, 52, who lives in the 5600 block of Aldrich Avenue South, is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He is also charged with fourth-degree DWI, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The police account reads like a movie script.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Bloomington Police Officer Dan Duerksen, police spotted a car westbound on American Boulevard near Morgan Avenue just after 10:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and observed that the car appeared to be speeding.

The driver was clocked going 49 mph in a 35 mph zone, and police began following the vehicle, which turned north onto Penn Avenue and then made a U-turn on a red light near Interstate 494. Police activated their emergency lights, but McLaughlin accelerated, heading toward an I-494 on ramp that was closed for construction, the complaint charges.

McLaughlin drove around construction barrels and “Road Closed” signs and onto a closed section of the interstate before he got stuck on the highway, according to the complaint.

Police ordered McLaughlin out of the car.

“Come and get me,” he replied, according to the complaint.

Officers tried to pull McLaughlin out of the car, but when he resisted, they used a stun gun and hauled him out.

McLaughlin was taken to the Bloomington police station, where he submitted to a breath test. His blood-alcohol content registered .18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

McLaughlin has been released from custody on a $25,000 bond. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charges Aug. 21 in Hennepin County District Court.