By Mike Stoll, Austin Daily Herald

 

An Albert Lea man is awaiting possible charges after allegedly fleeing police Thursday morning.

According to Austin Police Chief David McKichan, officers were informed Thursday that Trouper Montgomery Paulk Gilbertson, 29, a probationer from Albert Lea, had a parole hold warrant issued from a prior first-degree burglary conviction. They were told Gilbertson was in downtown Austin near the Department of Corrections offices and were given a vehicle description. An officer spotted a vehicle that matched the description at 8:44 a.m. and got behind it as it turned onto Oakland Avenue and headed toward Main Street. The vehicle contained a male driver and a female passenger.

The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle sped up, going through red lights and swerving around traffic on West Oakland Avenue to avoid the officer, McKichan said. The officer pursued the vehicle, which then parked in the 2100 block of Eighth Avenue Southwest. The driver, Gilbertson, fled the vehicle on foot across Turtle Creek, where police lost sight of him. The female passenger remained in the vehicle, which came back as stolen out of Freeborn County, McKichan said.

Police later received word that Gilbertson had returned to the downtown area. The officer who originally pursued Gilbertson spotted him near the Twin Towers and apprehended him on foot. Gilbertson was caught and taken into custody at 10:03 a.m.

Gilbertson is in Mower County Jail awaiting possible charges of vehicle theft, fleeing a peace officer and reckless driving. A review of his criminal record shows prior convictions for theft and burglary.

 

See what happened last night in the PM report here.