MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A high-speed chase involving an armed robbery suspect and police resulted in a crash which seriously injured a father and his infant son in Monticello Monday night.
Investigators believe the man who caused the crash had also been drinking.
According to Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Paul VanVoohris, the chase began after a robbery at Tootsies Tavern in Big Lake at approximately 5:40 p.m.
The suspect, 47-year-old Kevin Greene, allegedly pointed a weapon at a woman who was working at the tavern’s pull-tab booth. After receiving only $459, he fled the tavern in a 1999 Chevy Suburban. Big Lake Police were soon in pursuit.
After he crossed the Mississippi River, which was more than five miles south of the tavern, authorities say Greene picked up speed as he entered the intersection at Riverview Drive and East Broadway Street and broadsided a 2002 Honda Accord with two passengers: 28-year-old Travis Kolles and his one-year-old son, Layton.
Both were airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, where both were listed in critical condition as of Tuesday morning.
Greene’s injuries are non-life threatening, and Lt. VanVoohris says he’s currently in custody.
“We do suspect alcohol use, which is also being investigated … charges will be pending,” he said. The charges would be coming down from the Wright County Attorney’s Office.
In February 2012, Greene was convicted of driving without a valid license. In October 2012, he was convicted of making terroristic threats; he was also charged with attempted burglary in that case, but that charge was dismissed.
Lt. VanVoohris added that the officers chasing Greene were not close to the scene when the crash happened.
There is a fund set up at the Bank of Elk River under the Kolles Family Benefit Fund.
