EMERADO, N.D. (AP) - A chase on U.S. Highway 2 turned into a mobile home standoff and ended peacefully after about three hours when the suspect surrendered, authorities said.
Joseph LeFebvre, 33, of Grand Forks, was arrested about 8 p.m., Friday after authorities surrounded a mobile home along the highway, said Highway Patrol Capt. Kevin Robson.
Robson said the incident began around 5 p.m., when a patrol officer tried to pull LeFebvre's car over for traffic violations. LeFebvre fled west on U.S. 2, and the chase reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, authorities said.
After LeFebvre turned his car around near Larimore and headed toward Grand Forks, authorities set up a spike strip that deflated the vehicle's tires, Robson said.
LeFebvre lost control of his car and drove into a field about two miles east of Emerado, then ran to a mobile home in Anderson's Trailer Court, along the highway, authorities said.
ADVERTISEMENT
LeFebvre, who was not armed, did not know the owners of the mobile home and allowed the two occupants to leave unharmed, Robson said.
Nearby residents were told to leave and the Highway Patrol, the Grand Forks SWAT team and officers from Emerado and Grand Forks surrounded the area. LeFebvre was persuaded to surrender and was allowed to hug his girlfriend, who had been waiting near the police barricade during the standoff, before he was taken to jail, Robson said.
No one was injured in the standoff or the chase, though LeFebvre was driving in the wrong lane for about a mile before he drove into the field, Robson said.
"He was driving extremely hazardously," Robson said. "Fortunately, all this happened in an area with light traffic."
The patrol captain said LeFebvre has earlier methamphetamine-related charges and authorities found meth in his car Friday night.
Robson credited the cooperation of the officers who responded to the incident.
"Everyone worked together really well. There was nowhere for (LeFebvre) to go," he said.
