A domestic assault suspect with a lengthy criminal record has now been charged with felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide and fleeing police following a Friday night crash in Maplewood, Minn., that left an innocent motorist dead.
Events began unfolding about 7:30 p.m. Friday when a 911 caller reported that Nicholas John Price, 37, had threatened to set her on fire in Roseville. The victim also stated that Price had grabbed her face and shoved her against a wall, according to charges filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Later, just before 10:30 p.m. Friday, Roseville police spotted Price’s vehicle near County Road B West and Dale Street where they began following and initiated a traffic stop. Price fled and officers attempted an unsuccessful PIT maneuver. Ramsey County squads then joined the pursuit near County Road C and Rice Street. Officers briefly lost sight of the vehicle but reacquired it a short time later in Little Canada. Price’s Tahoe passed a car by driving into the lane of oncoming traffic. A deputy turned on his lights and pulled over, so the Tahoe could see its lights when it drove past. The deputy was about half a mile behind the Tahoe when it fled south and crashed into a Toyota Corolla in the area of Edgerton Street and Bellwood Avenue in Maplewood. The deputy came upon debris in the road from the crash when he crested the hill near Roselawn Avenue.
The aftermath of the crash was captured at the time on live video from Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s Live on Patrol YouTube broadcast as he and Deputy Pat Scott arrived at the site of the crash, where debris could be seen strewn across the road. Other video clips showed extensive damage to both vehicles.
In the last hour on Ramsey County Sheriff's Live on Patrol, a fleeing vehicle with a domestic suspect reportedly struck a bystander vehicle (not a pursuit). The driver was trapped and needed extrication.
The suspect, Nicholas Price, was reportedly taken into custody at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/9KwH1czZyB— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) December 14, 2024
Both the Tahoe and the Corolla sustained heavy front-end damage. Price was helped out of the vehicle and had sustained a broken leg. The Corolla’s 61-year-old driver was trapped and needed to be extricated from the vehicle. He later died at the hospital.
Video from a car that was following behind the Corolla captured the crash. The Corolla was driving north on Edgerton Street and took a left onto Bellwood Avenue. Price was speeding south on Edgerton Street and hit the victim’s Corolla. A squad arrived at the crash scene eight seconds after the crash, the criminal complaint says.
Upon speaking with an investigator whom he recognized from prior law enforcement contacts, Price said, “I shouldn’t have ran or anything, but that’s what I do – fight or flight.” Price asked if the other driver was okay. He also described a domestic encounter with his girlfriend whom he’d broken up with the prior day and said that she lied about the assault because she was mad about the breakup.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office posted a brief statement on social media on Monday expressing condolences to the victim’s family and saying, in part, “Hopefully, if [Price] is found guilty of his latest crimes, the judge will deliver a sentence that sends a strong message to him and others like him who continually commit crime after crime after crime: Enough. It’s time to change or go to prison. Price has been arrested or charged more than three dozen times. He refused to change.”
Minnesota court records show several driving convictions as well as burglary, carrying a pistol without a permit, tampering with a motor vehicle, DWI, receiving stolen property, forgery, and theft. Price has also been charged in a separate case with felony counts of domestic strangulation and threats of violence for the preceding domestic incident, and has at least four other active criminal cases.
Price remains in police custody on $500,000 bail and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Jan. 6, 2025.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
