Police: Albert Lea Burglary Suspect Arrested After Gas Drive-Off
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police in Albert Lea said Wednesday they've arrested a man suspected in a weekend burglary after he was in a car involved in a gas drive-off on Tuesday.
The Freeborn County Sheriff's Office received a report of the gas drive-off at about 6:40 p.m. Tuesday at the Vets Whoa-n-Go at the intersection of Highway 13 and Interstate 90. A short time later, authorities spotted the vehicle suspected in the incident at a gas station in nearby Hartland. As an officer approached, the vehicle took off and a chase ensued.
The vehicle ended up in a field, became stuck and the driver fled on foot. The driver, identified as 18-year-old Bailey Ehren Mitchel of Albert Lea, got lost in a standing cornfield and was later spotted on I-90 and arrested.
Police then learned Mitchel had a passenger in the car, who was later identified as 24-year-old Trouper Montgomery Gilbertson. He is suspected in a burglary last Sunday where a man found him inside the residence with a gun.
Authorities found Gilbertson after a door-to-door search near where the vehicle was stopped in an empty house, and he was taken into custody without incident.
Gilbertson is in the Freeborn County Jail on suspicion of fleeing a peace officer, third-degree burglary and aiding and abetting. Mitchel is in custody on suspicion of fleeing a peace officer, motor vehicle theft and reckless driving among other charges.
