A chaotic scene in St. Paul Wednesday, just outside a coffee shop on Western Avenue.
Ryan Luse works at Nina's Coffee Cafe, and she witnessed a multi-car crash involving federal agents. There were reports the cars were going at a high-speed in a neighborhood where the speed limit is 25 mph, and a red Prius driven by the man agents were chasing slid through the intersection and into two other cars.
"ICE was chasing down a guy in a dark red Prius, and they caused a car crash with two other cars," says Luse. "Including the Prius, three total outside of the cafe, and they chased the guy in the Prius on foot. He ended up running like down an alleyway across the street."
That description has been backed up by other observers.
"ICE recklessly chased a car at high speeds through a residential area in St. Paul and hit multiple cars as they barreled through an intersection," a witness posted to social media.
Luse described it as very upsetting to watch.
"There was a lot of people outside and luckily, you know, there's a good community in this area," Luse adds. "And we're all here to support each other and be here for one another, but yeah, very upsetting for everyone."
Luse says they eventually caught that person who was injured from the crash, and that person was taken by an ambulance. He was also covered by a sheet.
"The other observers that I talked to, from their understanding, the guy that was taken in the ambulance was like breathing, moving, talking, and all that," Luse adds. "People just think that he was covered with a sheet for like camera reasons."
St. Paul Police did assist at the scene of the crash. They reported the person being pursued sustained non-life-threatening injuries. They were transported to a local hospital by St. Paul Fire medics.
There's no word on the condition of any of the federal agents who were involved in the crash.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her released a statement calling the incident further chaos caused by ICE, and says it puts St. Paul residents at risk.
“I want to thank those who continue to show up and keep watch over their neighbors," Her said. "I also want to thank the Saint Paul Police for staying on the scene to clean up and ensure those impacted received assistance. Because of the reckless way that ICE is running their operation, one person ended up in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and several bystanders had their cars damaged. This is just another incident that tells us loud and clear: Operation Metro Surge needs to end immediately.”