A St. Paul man was charged with stealing a car from in front of a Hastings residence on Sept. 28. Leading police on a chase that ended in an accident in West St. Paul.

James Lee Norgaard, 30, told police he was under the influence of drugs when he allegedly took the car.

A Hastings man called police at 12:26 p.m. when he exited a residence and saw that his mother’s vehicle, which had been parked on the street, was gone.

At the ame time, officers were getting complaints about an erratic driver in a matching vehicle on hwy. 52.

At 12:40 p.m., the vehicle was spotted in Inver Grove Heights. With officers in pursuit, the vehicle, with Norgaard behind the wheel, went through a stop sign and nearly crashed into a truck while running a red light. The vehicle continued to flee and collided into another vehicle in West St. Paul. A squad car was positioned in front of the car, and Norgaard drove into it, hitting the side of the squad car and drove over the median. Police were able to block the vehicle in and force it off the road eight miles from where they initially located it.

Norgaard allegedly told officers he had been using methamphetamine and fentanyl for the past two weeks, and blood was collected.

He was taken into custody and booked into the Dakota County Jail. He is charged with felony counts of theft of a motor vehicle, criminal damage to property, fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily harm (negligence and under influence of a controlled substance).