Burnsville man sentenced to prison for 2022 burglary, chase involving gunfire

A man found guilty of assault, fleeing police in a vehicle and burglary after shooting at a Hennepin County deputy in September of 2022 has been sentenced.

Court records show 19-year-old Rashad Odell Collins of Burnsville was ordered to serve 188 months, or a little over 15.5 years, by Judge Shereen Askalani during Monday’s sentencing. Collins will get 334 days for credit already served.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Collins was one of two people to be charged for the incident, which happened during the overnight hours on I-94, causing multiple lanes of the freeway to briefly shut down near the Lowry Avenue Exit.

RELATED: UPDATE: Suspect shoots at deputy during pursuit on I-94 in Minneapolis

Collins, who was 18 at the time, as well as his co-defendant, Damon Davenport Jr. of Coon Rapids, were each initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and fleeing police.

Davenport entered a guilty plea to charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree assault last September, and in exchange, the attempted murder and fleeing police charges were dismissed as part of an agreement.

He was sentenced the following month to serve just over six years at the St. Cloud prison, receiving 382 days of credit and a $128 fine.

RELATED: Coon Rapids man sentenced to prison for shooting at officer during I-94 pursuit

Meanwhile, Collins was found not guilty of attempted murder, but was found guilty of the assault, burglary and fleeing police charges following a jury trial last month.

On Sept. 15, 2022, at 2:30 a.m. Brooklyn Center police and Hennepin County deputies responded to a burglary report at an apartment near 57th Avenue and Emerson Avenue North. There, a resident said three people had entered his apartment and stole cash and items from him.

Court documents state the man identified two of the suspects as Davenport and Rashad Odell Collins.

As officers arrived, they learned that the suspects were leaving in a white Ford Fusion. A deputy saw a car matching that description driving fast and abruptly turning south. According to the criminal complaint, the deputy started following the car, which sped through multiple stop signs, and the deputy then activated his squad’s lights and started a pursuit.

As the pursuit continued, the officer reported hearing multiple gunshots, and the suspect then fled onto Lyndale Avenue and then got onto Interstate 94 East.

The complaint states that, as they approached Lowry Avenue, the deputy heard another burst of gunfire, and a bullet then hit the middle of his squad’s windshield, sending glass into his squad. The deputy then stopped the pursuit to ensure his K9 partner wasn’t injured. No injuries were reported but officers weren’t able to find the Fusion again.

Investigators later found a 9 mm bullet under the deputy’s driver’s seat, too, in addition to five discharged .45-caliber casings where the deputy first heard gunfire and 19 discharged 9 mm casings near the second area where he heard gunfire.

Court documents state that investigators were later able to use surveillance footage and cellphone location data to determine Davenport was in the corresponding areas during the burglary and pursuit.

Davenport was arrested the next day as he left his girlfriend’s home. Police also found the Fusion abandoned near South High School the following day, and a discharged .45-caliber casing was found inside, as was Davenport’s DNA.