Madelia man charged after two pursuits
May 26—MANKATO — A wanted man allegedly fled from police in Madelia and led authorities on another pursuit through the Mankato area.
After he crashed, the man ran into and onto industrial buildings before he was captured early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Anthony Allen Ressler, 39, of Madelia, is now facing charges in two counties. He is charged with felony fleeing police and gross misdemeanor driving after license cancellation in Watonwan County District Court. He is facing the same charges in Blue Earth County as well as misdemeanor fleeing police on foot.
According to court documents:
Ressler fled when a Madelia police officer tried to arrest him on warrants for driving without a license around 5:45 p.m. Monday. A short pursuit ensued during which Ressler ran multiple stop signs.
The police chief called off the chase "because of the numerous citizens outside and the highly dangerous speeds and manner in which the defendant was driving," the complaint says.
Ressler later called police and "engaged in a herculean gaslighting effort" to convince police he had not been driving. But witnesses provided police with photographs proving otherwise when he stopped at their residence when he ran out of gas.
A Blue Earth County sheriff's deputy spotted Ressler getting more gas around 1:50 a.m. Tuesday at a station off Highway 169. Another longer pursuit ensued, involving multiple law enforcement agencies through Mankato, into Nicollet and Le Sueur counties and back into Mankato.
Ressler crashed into a gate, then climbed over a fence and ran into buildings and on a roof in the area of North Riverfront Drive and Thompson Street before officers caught him.
