Man who stole truck, crashed into Light Rail, tried to steal squad car sentenced to over 3 years

By KSTP

Cohen Jajuanza Jacobs, of Richfield, was sentenced to just over three years (39 months) at the St. Cloud prison for one count of 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He received credit for the 189 days previously served.

Jacobs was also facing one count of theft of a motor vehicle and one count of second-degree attempted aggravated robbery, which was dismissed.

Jacobs will serve his sentence concurrently with a previous sentence of one count of first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling. That sentence is 180 days in the Hennepin County Workhouse, where he gets credit for 69 days previously served. He will also serve 3 years of supervised probation for that case.

As previously reported, at around 7 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2022, a Metro Transit police officer was at the intersection of Washington Avenue Southeast and Huron Boulevard when he saw the driver of a utility truck, later identified as Jacobs, driving at a high speed. The driver then made a sharp left turn from Washington Avenue onto Huron Avenue, according to a criminal complaint.

When the truck turned, its side tires hit the center median and nearly hit a pedestrian. A Light Rail train was crossing Huron Avenue and collided with the truck. The officer responded to the crash and Jacobs ran away.

Jacobs then ran behind two women, took a water bottle from one of their backpacks and continued running as the officer chased him. When an officer approached Jacobs, he allegedly pulled out a box cutter with the blade extended and lunged at the officer. When the officer retreated, Jacobs climbed into the driver’s seat of the squad car.

The officer used his Taser but Jacobs again lunged at the officer with the box cutter, the complaint adds. However, the officer was able to throw Jacobs out of the squad before he could drive away.

As other officers responded, Jacobs then allegedly tried to get into another vehicle but the driver pulled away and didn’t let him inside. The other officers used their Tasers on Jacobs but noted they seemed to have no effect on him.

Eventually, an officer was able to knock Jacobs to the ground and he was arrested.

Authorities estimated that Jacobs caused between $3,000 and $4,000 worth of damage during this incident.