A 54-year-old Brainerd man remains hospitalized Wednesday following a pursuit by law enforcement that ended when the man fell from a tree when the treetop broke, Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office reported.
Deputies, assisted by the Lakes Area Drug Investigative Division, were attempting to locate the suspect around 9:37 p.m. Tuesday for a predatory offender violation. Deputies located a suspicious vehicle leaving a listed address and learned the driver had dropped the suspect off in the driveway on the 16000 block of Chestnut Circle in Brainerd.
Deputies located foot tracks leading into the woods to the back of the residence and heard someone moving through the woods, the sheriff's office reported. A K9 Team tracked the suspect, who was about 15 feet up into a tree.
Authorities negotiated with the suspect for more than an hour to get him to come down from the tree, with no success. Then the treetop broke and the suspect fell to the ground.
The suspect was taken by North Memorial Ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Joseph's Medical Center for unknown injuries. The suspect spit on a deputy while at the hospital.
