Woman involved in police chase pleads guilty

Published 4:09 pm Saturday, June 3, 2017

A Minneapolis woman charged after officers were led on a chase involving a stolen vehicle in 2015 pleaded guilty Friday in Freeborn County District Court.

Elana Shira Lenze, 44, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug possession and fleeing an officer by means other than a motor vehicle. One count of receiving stolen property was dismissed.

Elana Lenze

Court documents state Lenze and Matthew Rowand, 33, of Minneapolis were charged after three officers attempted to stop a vehicle they were in Dec. 13, 2015, at the intersection of North Broadway and Fountain Street. The vehicle, reported stolen in Minneapolis the month before, reportedly accelerated through stop signs and turned north on Bridge Avenue while officers began chasing the vehicle with emergency lights and sirens on. The vehicle crossed the center line multiple times and traveled at a speed estimated at more than 60 mph — more than double the posted speed limit of 30 mph.

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Lenze and Rowand both reportedly began to flee the officers on foot after the vehicle came to a stop in front of a residence just north of the intersection of Bridge Avenue and Hawthorne Street. The officers reportedly chased them on foot and apprehended them in the driveway of an adjacent residence. A pipe that reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine was found in a purse Lenze was holding when she was arrested, and documents and credit cards bearing Lenze’s name along with registration for the stolen vehicle were found.

Sentencing for Lenze is scheduled for Aug. 24. As of Friday morning, she was in jail pending completion of a pre-sentence investigation, said Assistant Freeborn County Attorney Corey Rothrock. She was charged with receiving stolen property, but that charge was dismissed.

Rowand was placed on unsupervised probation for one year in June 2016 after he pleaded guilty to fleeing a peace officer by means other than a motor vehicle.

About Sam Wilmes

Sam Wilmes covers crime, courts and government for the Albert Lea Tribune.

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