St. Cloud police arrest man on multiple charges after pursuit

The St. Cloud Police Department arrested a man on multiple charges Friday after a short pursuit.

According to police, at around 7:40 p.m. on Friday, officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle that had just occurred from a parking lot located in the 1500 block of Sherburne Drive SE. About five minutes later, officers checking the area located the occupied stolen vehicle at Ninth Avenue South and University Drive. Police attempted to stop the vehicle, however, the vehicle’s driver would not pull over and a pursuit followed.

The pursuit initially went westbound on University Drive, however, the driver eventually made a U-turn and headed back eastbound on University Drive, crossing University Bridge and continuing to drive east. Then, at about 7:50 p.m., the driver pulled over in the 1700 block of University Drive Southeast and suddenly hit his brakes, causing the vehicle to slide into an unoccupied parked car.

Officers conducted a felony stop and the suspect was taken into custody without incident. Based on observations and field sobriety testing, officers obtained a search warrant for a blood draw as it is believed the suspect was under the influence, according to authorities.

The suspect was later identified as 25-year-old Weli A Dirir, of St. Cloud. He was transported to Stearns County Jail where he is being held on charges related to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, fleeing police in a motor vehicle, driving after revocation and third-degree DWI.

No one was injured in this incident. Police say there was very minor damage to the parked vehicle the stolen car slid into at the end of the pursuit.