Charges: Driver Fled Police at 120 mph on Hwy. 52 in Rochester

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A driver is facing a felony charge connected to a high-speed fleeing incident that happened in Rochester over the weekend. 

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That’s according to a criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County Court Monday. The alleged fleeing incident happened around 9 p.m. Saturday evening. 

The court document says a Rochester Police Officer on patrol saw a vehicle without displayed license plates in the area of 19th St. and 20th Ave. Northwest. 

The vehicle then rapidly sped away from the area when the officer activated the squad car’s emergency lights in an attempt to initiate a traffic stop, the complaint states. 

The officer followed the vehicle east to Hwy. 52 but lost sight of it as it merged onto the freeway. Other law enforcement in the area reported seeing the suspect vehicle travel at an estimated speed of 120 mph as it fled the officer, the complaint says. 

Authorities then tracked the vehicle to a parking lot in southeast Rochester and boxed it in. Law enforcement then arrested the driver, identified as 19-year-old Dear Mohaned Akra of Rochester. 

The complaint says three passengers were in the vehicle. Akra told police he knew police were trying to stop him because his vehicle did not have license plates on it. 

The passengers in the vehicle said Akra refused their pleas for him to stop the vehicle saying he couldn’t stop because there were no license plates on the vehicle. 

Akra was arraigned Monday on a felony fleeing charge. He was released without bail and is due back in court later this month.

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