Man charged with stealing van, crashing into West St. Paul pond

A St. Paul man accused of stealing a van and crashing into another vehicle before ending up in a West St. Paul pond has now been charged.

Officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle just before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in Hastings. A short time later, it was spotted in Inver Grove Heights and a pursuit started.

RELATED: Driver of stolen vehicle arrested after crashing into other vehicles, West St. Paul pond

Police say the vehicle, a white van, ran through a stop sign, nearly hit a truck at the intersection of 80th Street East and Barnes Avenue, and then ran a red light and continued fleeing into West St. Paul. At the intersection of Thompson Avenue and the Highway 52 frontage road, the van hit another vehicle and a police squad and ran into a pond.

At that time, the driver of the van, identified as 30-year-old James Lee Norgaard, was arrested. The driver of the vehicle he hit was taken to a hospital after complaining of back pain.

A criminal complaint states Norgaard told officers at the scene that he’d been using meth and fentanyl for the past two weeks, and officers noted he had rapid, uncoordinated movements, as well as pinpoint pupils and a fluctuation between lethargic and manic attitudes.

Officers obtained a search warrant for a blood draw and sent that to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis. Those results are still pending.

However, Norgaard was charged Friday with criminal vehicular operation, vehicle theft, first-degree criminal property damage and fleeing police.

He has a bail hearing set for Monday morning.