2 suspects charged in Ramsey County chase involving puppy thrown from vehicle

Charges have been filed against a man and a woman for their alleged roles in a January police chase in which a puppy was thrown from a moving vehicle on Interstate 694.

According to documents filed in Ramsey County, warrants have been issued for two people whom prosecutors believe were inside the carjacked vehicle that night: 33-year-old Donovan Alan Goodman and 26-year-old Raylean Chastity Gurneau.

A criminal complaint alleges Goodman led Ramsey County deputies on a chase the night of Jan. 30 while traveling the wrong way on Interstate 694 in a stolen Ford F150. In the midst of the pursuit, one of the pickup’s rear doors opened, and a small white dog tumbled out and onto the road.

One officer pursuing the stolen F150 executed a PIT maneuver, which caused it to stop in the median of the highway. Goodman and another unidentified male suspect ran out, and each suspect carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint before driving off, the complaint states.

Gurneau and another woman were found in the back seat of the F150, along with a backpack containing 189 grams of methamphetamine. Gurneau “showed signs of an overdose” and received several doses of Narcan, a complaint states.

Goodman, who was driving the F150, left his phone in the truck. Investigators found more evidence that linked him to the incident, including photos of Goodman in the truck, squad video, and dashcam video from one of the vehicles carjacked after the chase.

The day after the chase, Ramsey County deputies found the puppy that had been thrown from the car. He had a broken leg and several cuts but was expected to survive. The puppy, now named “Tahoe,” needed more than $15,000 in veterinary care.

As previously reported, Goodman was eventually tracked to his home in St. Paul after he had stolen an Uber driver’s car in Minneapolis on Feb. 23.

In an interview with law enforcement, he confirmed that Gurneau was the one who threw the puppy out of the vehicle. He also said that Gurneau had made a phony 911 call with claims of being shot and carjacked to divert police.

Goodman is charged with aggravated robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, theft of a motor vehicle, and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. He’s also facing federal weapons and carjacking charges and remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Gurneau faces four separate counts of animal cruelty, and one count each of fleeing a peace officer and placing a false 911 call.

Last summer, Gurneau pleaded guilty to a previous charge of animal cruelty when a dog that was placed in her care was found shot 10-12 times with a BB gun and needed to have its eye surgically removed.

Even though Gurneau had been named as a suspect in a new animal cruelty case, at her March sentencing hearing, Hennepin County Judge Juan Hoyos stayed her 17-month prison term for three years. Prosecutors say they plan to use her prior animal cruelty conviction as evidence in this case.

Gurneau also has an outstanding auto theft case in Ramsey County, and she failed to appear for a hearing on Thursday. There is an active warrant for her arrest.