Slayton, Minnesota — We now know the charges that four people from New York and New Jersey face in connection with a pursuit that started near Little Rock.
The pursuit started when a white Porsche blew past a Lyon County Deputy near Little Rock. It continued into Osceola County, and then into Minnesota, passing through Nobles County and then into Murray County, where the vehicle was discovered but the pursuit was discontinued. However, a call to Murray County dispatch from a tow company about a suspicious tow call in the town of Currie in that county alerted law enforcement to the location of the vehicle, and four arrests were made.
We are told that 19-year-old Brendon Aaron Brown and 22-year-old Kevan Collin Henry, both of Bronx, NY; 27-year-old Jonathan A. Chacon of Rathway, NJ; and 42-year-old Rafael Pete Rodriguez of Jersey City, NJ were arrested.
Brown has been charged with reckless driving and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle. Chacon was charged with interference with official acts and drug possession. Rodriguez faces charges of obstructing justice, giving a false identity, and drug possession. And Henry is charged with aiding and abetting the other three.
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Original story, posted Mar 17, 2022 at 4:17 p.m.:
NW Iowa and SW Minnesota — A pursuit that started in Lyon County, Iowa on Tuesday, continued at a high rate of speed through three other counties, and four people from the Eastern US were eventually arrested in connection with the pursuit. It appears to have left Lyon County, entered Osceola County, then Nobles County, and finally Murray County, Minnesota.
According to Slayton, Minnesota Police Chief Jeremy Steinle, about 4:25 that afternoon, the Nobles County Sheriff’s Office advised Murray County dispatch in Slayton that they had been involved in a pursuit with a car, believed to be a white Porsche, and that they had discontinued the pursuit as it was northbound on their County Road 13, entering Murray County. That’s in north-central Nobles County, basically due south of Slayton.
He says the vehicle was reported to have been involved in pursuits in both Lyon and Osceola counties in Iowa prior to entering Nobles County. At 4:37 p.m., they say a Slayton Police Department officer observed a vehicle matching the description of the Porsche involved in the Nobles County pursuit northbound on Highway 267, a Highway just west of Slayton. He observed the vehicle allegedly disregard the stop sign at the intersection of Highway 30, make a sharp turn eastbound and continue on Highway 30 toward Slayton.
Steinle says the officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop and the vehicle fled. The vehicle turned northbound onto Highway 59 and continued to flee from the officer. As the vehicle increased speed to over 120mph, the officer discontinued the pursuit about eight miles north of Slayton.
That evening, about 8:20 p.m., a towing company contacted the Murray County Sheriffs Office regarding a suspicious request for a tow of a vehicle in Currie, MN (that’s about five miles north of Slayton and three east). After gathering vehicle and suspect information, officers from the Slayton Police Department, Murray County Sheriffs Office, and Buffalo Ridge Drug and Violent Crime Task Force were able to locate four suspects and a white 2014 Porsche Panamera that was positively identified as the one involved in the pursuit earlier in the day. All four suspects were arrested as a result of this continuing investigation and are being held in the Lyon County, MN jail in Marshall, awaiting their initial court appearance. Numerous charges are pending.
The four are identified as 19-year-old Brendon Aaron Brown and 22-year-old Kevan Collin Henry, both of Bronx, NY; 27-year-old Jonathan A. Chacon of Rathway, NJ; and 42-year-old Rafael Pete Rodriguez of Jersey City, NJ.
Lyon County Iowa Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep says it all started when one of their deputies met the vehicle, which was eastbound on Highway 9 at a high rate of speed. The deputy turned around to pursue, and the vehicle was quite a way down the road already, so Vander Stoep says his deputy called Osceola County. Unfortunately, Vander Stoep says there was no radar speed captured, so Lyon County may not have any charges to file.
There’s been no word yet from authorities in other counties as to charges pending there.
