Car stolen in Hollandale; arrest made in South Dakota

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 8, 2006

By Nathan Cooper and Josh Verges, staff writers

AUSTIN &045; A 41-year-old man was captured in Fort Pierre, S.D. after driving a stolen vehicle and running from police after he walked out of an Austin ShopKo in stolen shoes, according to authorities.

Lon Hatton, 41 of Cold Spring, was arrested in a barn about 15 miles northwest of Fort Pierre, S.D., after Stanley County police attempted to stop a vehicle reported stolen from Pierre, S.D. A chase ensued, and Hatton allegedly fled the car on foot into the barn, where police apprehended the man.

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Hatton was charged Monday in Stanley County District Court with third-degree burglary, grand theft auto, eluding police and entering a building illegally. He is in jail in Pierre, S.D.

Police said the vehicle was reported stolen Monday morning, and Hatton was taken into custody at 10:40 a.m. Monday.

Police were first called to the northwest Austin store at 5:05 p.m. Friday after Hatton allegedly stole a $30 pair of shoes. He told an employee he forgot to pay for them, but when a responding officer arrived to escort him to a squad car, he fled wearing the stolen shoes.

An officer used a Tazer gun and a chemical compound to try to detain Hatton as he ran through the parking lot. The suspect entered the second vehicle he tried to open, then flailed his arms to free himself from the officer, who had placed one handcuff on him.

The suspect, who had stolen the Ford Explorer from the St. Cloud area, drove in reverse through the parking lot, and then headed north on U.S. Highway 218. He turned west onto Minnesota Highway 251 and threw a screwdriver and another unidentified item out of the window as the officer gave chase.

The man eventually crashed in an irrigation ditch after driving through a soybean field in Hollandale and ran north. Police lost sight of the man and failed to find him after 90 minutes of canine tracking.

Capt. Curt Rude said Freeborn County later took a report that someone had stolen a vehicle 1 1/2 to two miles from the site of the crash. Freeborn County officials said the stolen vehicle from Hollandale was found in Pierre, S.D.

The owner of the Explorer, a Waite Park man, told police he didn’t know his vehicle had been stolen. It contained a cell phone, pillow, clothes and alcohol that apparently belonged to the suspect.

The vehicle stolen in South Dakota was apparently left vacant with the keys inside.