Man Allegedly Leads Police On High-Speed Boat Chase On Lake Minnetonka
MINNETONKA, Minn. (WCCO) – Boaters captured a high speed chase on Lake Minnetonka over the Fourth of July. Authorities were called to the lake on a domestic dispute, but when they arrived the suspect, and driver, 33-year-old Ryan Krueger sped away.
The chase lasted roughly five minutes and no one was hurt.
With a lakefront home, Doug Ellefson and his family have watched the Fourth of July lake traffic for the last eight years.
But this holiday brought a first.
"It was exciting. It's relatively quiet with the no wake zone," Doug Ellefson, who lives on Lake Minnetonka, said.
When Ellefson and his family saw someone swimming in a busy bay he grabbed his phone and start recording Friday evening.
"There was a boat circling around the person and a sheriff boat nearby raced over," Ellefson said.
According to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Krueger refused to stop when questioned about a domestic dispute. He took off and the chase began.
"He raced by us with two sheriff boats chasing him. It's certainly something we don't see every day," Ellefson said.
Ellefson made three recordings on his cell phone as the boat traveled back and forth through Crystal Bay and other nearby bays at speeds, he estimates, of 30-40 miles per hour.
"When he started coming that way again, we were concerned he got pretty close," Ellefson said.
This dangerous situation on a crowded lake was made worse when Ellefson's family spotted a baby on board the fleeing boat.
"With that amount of craziness, and a little baby involved, it was frightening," Ellefson said.
The Ellefsons watched the chase move into a nearby Maxwell Bay where it eventually ended.
Krueger was arrested and now faces charges of fleeing an officer.
Meanwhile, those who saw the chase are now enjoying calmer waters.
