Police: Former Minneapolis firefighter cut off ankle monitor, fled officers before arrest

Emily Baude KSTP

Eric Jagers (Courtesy: Hennepin County Jail)

A former Minneapolis firefighter was arrested in far western Minnesota on Saturday after cutting off an ankle monitor and fleeing police officers, according to law enforcement.

Eric Matthew Jagers, 54, of Minneapolis, was arrested on April 22 shortly after 8 a.m. in Breckenridge.

The Breckenridge Police Department said officers were called to a Blazer Express gas station in Breckenridge on a report of a suspicious person about an hour earlier. Officers say Jagers cut off his ankle monitor and drove away in a truck.

Law enforcement from the Breckenridge Police Department said they located and pursued Jagers into Clay County, where he drove into a field, returned to the roadway, and eventually crashed into a street sign.

Jagers then exited the vehicle holding a bow, prompting officers to fire less-than-lethal bean bag rounds and a less-than-lethal 40 mm pepper ball round, according to a report from the Breckenridge Police Department.

Officers arrested Jagers on suspicion of fleeing in a motor vehicle and obstructing the legal process. He was booked into the Wilkin County Jail. Law enforcement officials said mental health did not appear to be a factor in the incident.

Jagers was already facing one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of threats of violence with reckless disregard for risks for an alleged assault of a former Gopher football player on April 14.