Melvin E. Horton

Vehic/Purs

Both Fridley and Columbia Heights police officers called off their pursuit at different times through residential areas of a white minivan, whose driver was later identified as Marc Alan Demarais, because of the risk to others. The Fridley officer had originally tried to stop the van for speeding, 48 mph in a 35 mph zone, but the driver continued at a high rate of speed, going through stop signs without slowing down and driving through a residential yard. After the Fridley officer called off his pursuit, a Columbia Heights officer spotted the same van, which had two flat tires and smoke coming from it. He also stopped the high-speed pursuit through residential neighborhoods, but then noticed smoke in the area of 44th Avenue and 4th Street and found the minivan had crashed into another van at the intersection, killing one occupant and putting the other in a coma.