Man leads deputies on high-speed chase through Aitkin, Carlton Counties

A Minneapolis man was arrested March 21 after leading sheriff department deputies from Aitken and Carlton Counties on a high-speed chase that ended just west of Interstate 35.

Derrick James Holmes, 32, was charged in Aitkin County Court with felony possession of stolen property, felony fleeing a police officer, fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance plus misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, theft of gas and driving after revocation.

According to the criminal complaint:

Following a gas drive-off from the Holiday Station store in Aitkin just before 9 a.m. March 21, an Aitkin County deputy attempted to pull over a vehicle matching the description of the gray Chevrolet Traverse involved in the drive-off.

Rather than pull over, the driver of the Traverse, Holmes, sped up, sometimes reaching speeds of 105 mph as he passed other vehicles in no-passing zones and at least one blind corner. He allegedly drove through McGregor — speed limit 40 mph — at speeds of more than 100 mph. By this time, a state trooper had also joined the chase, taking over the primary position as the chase continued down Highway 210.

According to the criminal complaint, midway between McGregor and Tamarack, Holmes allegedly passed with an oncoming vehicle next to him, forcing the two other vehicles onto the shoulders of the road.

He avoided spike strips deployed by other law enforcement officers in the city of Wright, after driving in the oncoming lane, still well in excess of the posted limit, and passed a vehicle on the right in Cromwell, at a high rate of speed. He didn’t slow down at all in Sawyer.

Officers terminated the pursuit two miles west of Interstate 35, then Holmes went into the ditch when he attempted to get on southbound I-35. Initially unwilling to exit the vehicle, Holmes and his passenger, Taylor Mus, were arrested, although they refused to identify themselves or speak to the officers.

Officers allegedly found a small baggie of methamphetamine in the vehicle, and determined that the vehicle had been stolen from a Friendly Chevrolet lot a couple days before.

The two were booked into the Aitkin County Jail and charged there.

Holmes has more than 25 cases on his criminal record, including convictions of auto theft, second-degree burglary and two counts of aggravated robbery, first-degree, in 2008 and 2010. He also had seven outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest, several of them on cases that are currently working their way through the court system in different counties, including Hennepin, Scott and Anoka.