GRAND FORKS — A man is dead after police say he got into a fight with officers, stole a squad car and crashed head-on into a semi after crossing the median on Interstate 29 in Grand Forks.
Officers were making a welfare check on a man at a south Grand Forks business Monday afternoon, May 6, when they learned he had a warrant out for his arrest, according to Grand Forks police Lt. Derik Zimmel.
In the process of trying to remove the man from a police car to take him into custody, the man became violent, attempting to disarm an officer and breaking the officer's holster, police said.
The man then stole a police car and fled the scene, according to police. Bystander video shows a man sprint through a parking lot, jump into a parked police vehicle and speed off.
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After escaping, the man started to drive north on I-29, where he veered across the median into southbound lanes and got into a head-on collision with a semi, police said.
The man was dead when officers arrived at the scene, the police vehicle reduced to a mangled heap of shredded metal and plastic with debris scattered on the surrounding pavement.
The semi driver is unharmed but "shaken up," and the officer the man attacked is believed to be OK, police said.
More information will be available Tuesday, police said. The man's name will not be released until his next-of-kin is identified.
