Man tosses loaded gun into snowbank, arrested for mail theft, drugs

CHASKA, Minn. — Police in Chaska Saturday morning arrested a 40-year-old man from St. Paul who allegedly threw a gun into a snowbank before officers approached him.

The Chaska Police Department says officers responded to the area of Scenic View Drive and Crest Drive around 10 a.m. to a report of a man going through mailboxes and looking inside parked vehicles.

Officers say when the man first noticed them, he threw something into a snowbank. An officer who looked in the snowbank after the man was detained found a fully loaded handgun with its serial number scratched up.

The man allegedly had over 30 pieces of stolen mail fall out of his winter coat when police detained him.

Police also say the man had suspected methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia in his pockets.

The man had a previous felony conviction and is being held in jail on several charges, CPD says.