Woman gets probation in police chase

Published 8:38 pm Friday, December 1, 2017

A Minneapolis woman charged after officers were led on a chase involving a stolen vehicle in 2015 was placed on probation for five years Thursday in Freeborn County District Court.

Elana Lenze

Elana Shira Lenze, 45, was sentenced after she pleaded guilty in June to fifth-degree drug possession and fleeing an officer by means other than a motor vehicle. Lenze received a stay of adjudication, meaning if she successfully completes probation, the case will be dismissed. She was sentenced to 89 days in jail and was given credit for 89 days served.

Court documents state Lenze and Matthew Rowand 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.

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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.

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.

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 in connection with the case.

About Sam Wilmes

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

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