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Sep 7, 2005 11:57 am US/Central
Lino Lakes Officer Killed In High-Speed Chase
(WCCO)
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Shawn Silvera
Courtesy globalsilveras.com
A driver fleeing police in a high-speed chase on Interstate 35W Tuesday evening hit and killed a Lino Lakes police officer near Blaine, Minn., police said.
Police said the suspect struck 32-year-old Officer Shawn Silvera as he was laying down tire deflation devices during the chase.
The impact threw Silvera across the highway into a ditch. He was pronounced dead on the scene, officials said.
The accident occurred about 5:20 p.m. south of Forest Lake at Lexington Ave. N., in the northbound lane of I-35W.
Bowie said a cop tried to pull over a 26-year-old man 13 miles north in Wyoming, Minn.
The suspect was wanted on a felony warrant for assault and was a suspect in a home invasion, both in South Dakota officials said. He was allegedly driving a stolen Chevy Beretta.
Police said the man fled southbound on I-35W. Officials said they were unsure if the suspect intentionally hit the officer or if he swerved to avoid the stop sticks Silvera was laying down.
The driver hit Silvera in the median and then crossed into oncoming northbound traffic hitting a minivan, police said.
The driver of the minivan and the suspect were airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in critical condition. Police said the driver of the minivan's injuries were non-life-threatening.
The entire chase last nine minutes, reaching nearly 100-miles-per-hour with up to four squad cars in pursuit of the suspect, officials said.
Nancy Hope and her family witnessed the chase.
Hope said, "My husband saw the car just speeding past us and about five police cars chasing and then about half a mile ahead it did end up in quite a big collision. He was going about 100 miles an hour."
Silvera served in the 20-member Lino Lakes Police Department for seven years, beginning in 1997. He took a two-year leave of absence to serve in the Peace Corps before returning to the department.
Silvera leaves behind a wife and two small children.
Police said the suspect was in custody at the hospital. According to officials, the suspect is a 26-year-old Sioux Falls, S.D. man whose father lives in the area.
Anoka County Criminal Investigators are leading the investigation into the crash.
Area officers will keep a 24-hour watch over Silvera's body until he is buried.
In the past ten years, more than 630 police officers were killed in the line of duty. Approximately 15 percent of them died in chases or traffic stops.
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