A St. Paul man engaged in a four-hour standoff with police in Maplewood on Tuesday night told officers he was armed and the only way he planned to leave the scene was in a body bag, authorities say.
Police eventually persuaded Kelly Gordon Sauer, 48, to climb out of the stolen vehicle in which he was holed up and surrender, according to charges filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.
He was charged Thursday with one count of theft of a motor vehicle and a second count of fleeing police.
Sauer is expected to make his first court appearance in the case Friday. No attorney was listed for him in court records.
The incident began around 9:30 p.m. Monday after police ran the license plate of a dark Honda CRV and discovered it was reported stolen, according to the charges.
Officers activated their squad lights and initiated a traffic stop, but authorities say Sauer, who was driving the stolen CRV, took off.
He hurtled down St. Paul city streets into Maplewood, reaching speeds of around 90 mph on Larpenteur Avenue, according to the charges.
At some point, a train crossed his path and he was forced to turn left on Sylvan Street, which dead-ends at the St. Paul Regional Water Services plant.
Sauer attempted to turn around and drove through a front yard as well as a chain-link fence before his vehicle crashed into a retaining wall and came to rest, according to the charges.
Officers yelled for Sauer to exit the vehicle, but he refused, telling police he had a gun and that the only way he planned to exit the CRV was “in a body bag,” the complaint said.
Police set up a perimeter after one officer on scene thought he spotted the black barrel of a handgun emerge from Sauer’s window.
Throughout the standoff, Sauer reportedly insisted that he wanted to die, saying “he was stuck in an endless spiral of screwing up,” the complaint said.
But around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, officers persuaded him to climb out of the CRV and then took him into custody. No firearm was found inside the vehicle, but police did discover what appeared to be a suicide note, charges say.
Sauer engaged in similar conduct in late March in Edina, prompting charges in Hennepin County, according to court records.
He was released on conditions in that case but failed to appear for a hearing April 23 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Sauer has nine prior felonies on his record, authorities say.