CLOSE

‘One of our state troopers made a traffic stop, just like state troopers do every single day on our roads… that traffic stop changed quickly…’

USA TODAY Handout

COLLEGEVILLE — A 29-year-old man faces six felony charges and one misdemeanor charge following a daylong manhunt Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Stearns County District Court. 

Devan Dajon Wilson, who has no city of residence listed, is accused of assaulting an officer, driving while intoxicated, fleeing police, breaking into a dorm at St. John’s Preparatory School and threatening a man. 

According to the complaint, at about 7 a.m. Thursday a Minnesota State Patrol trooper observed a 2007 Kia Sportage stalled on the eastbound lane of Interstate Highway 94 near Freeport. 

Devan Dajon Wilson (Photo: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office)

The trooper found Wilson sleeping in the driver’s seat with a partial bottle of vodka in the back seat and two smaller bottles near the front passenger seat; Wilson admitted to having consumed alcohol and provided a false name to the trooper. 

The trooper then conducted field sobriety tests, which indicated impairment, and told Wilson he was under arrest. 

At that point, Wilson hit the trooper on the left side of the jaw “with a closed fist via a roundhouse style swing,” which fractured the trooper’s jaw in three places and required surgery, including the placement of two metal plates and four screws to help repair the damage, the complaint states. 

Wilson then drove away from the scene and reportedly struck a semi, which pulled over and contacted authorities. 

Just before 8 a.m., an officer saw Wilson in the Kia near a mobile home park in Albany.

Officers activated lights and sirens to attempt to stop Wilson who was headed eastbound on I-94 and deployed stop sticks under the St. John’s Bridge to puncture the tires. 

Wilson “continued to drive for approximately one mile before his tires eventually shredded off their rims,” the complaint states. 

An officer attempted to perform a PIT maneuver to stop Wilson but backed off after Wilson “reached out the driver’s side with a black object in his hand,” the complaint states. 

Wilson exited the vehicle, ran into the ditch and paused to take a “shooting stance” toward the officers. 

Wilson entered the campus area of St. John’s University, causing a lockdown. A burglary was reported at the St. John’s Preparatory School dorms at about 11 a.m. 

A 23-year-old man told authorities Wilson came into his dorm while he was sleeping, threatened to shoot him and stole his clothes, cell phone and vehicle keys. 

At about 6:30 p.m., officials found Wilson hiding underneath a blanket beneath a stairwell and arrested him. Officers also found a wrench with black markings on it. 

Authorities from 16 agencies were involved in the search, including area