Burglary Suspect Arrested After Fleeing Crash

(KNSI) — St. Cloud police have arrested a burglary suspect who fled the scene of a crash on January 29th after leading officers on a brief pursuit.

The St. Cloud Police Department’s Community Response Team tracked down 29-year-old Colton Scott Armstrong of St. Cloud to a home in the 1300 block of 9th Avenue South. Early Wednesday morning, members of the St. Cloud SWAT team executed a search warrant at the address and took Armstrong into custody without incident around 5:00 a.m.

Armstrong is being held at the Stearns County Jail on active felony warrants from the Department of Corrections for violation of release and from Pope County for third-degree burglary. The Stearns County Attorney’s Office could file additional charges of felony fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle and felony criminal vehicular operation.

The incident began around 10:55 a.m. on the 29th when St. Cloud police were asked by Pope County authorities to watch for a vehicle connected to a burglary that happened earlier in their jurisdiction. An officer spotted the suspect driving out of a parking lot in the 4100 block of Division Street West and attempted a traffic stop. The driver refused to pull over and fled, prompting a short pursuit that officers soon terminated.

Shortly after the chase ended, police received reports of a crash involving the suspect vehicle at 13th Street North and 10th Avenue North in St. Cloud. The driver fled on foot before officers arrived.

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