By Jacob Tellers

Fergus Falls Daily Journal

FERGUS FALLS — Fergus Falls Ward 3 City Council member Timothy Rundquist, 52, was reportedly speeding on Highway 54 when a state trooper attempted to pull him over in a routine traffic stop Monday evening.

About 11 miles later, Rundquist crashed head-on into a parked, unoccupied Ashby Police Department squad car that was set up near stop sticks on Highway 59 south of Fergus Falls intended to slow down the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta he was driving.

Rundquist was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics arrived.

A Tuesday afternoon press conference at the Minnesota State Patrol district office in Detroit Lakes shed some more light on the events leading up to the fatal crash, but there are many questions remaining, some of which may never be satisfactorily answered.

“This is a tragedy,” Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant Chuck Backes said. “This is not how we would want any pursuit to end. But ultimately at the end, we had no control over the driver’s actions.”

Law enforcement does not know what caused Rundquist, a city council member, assistant county attorney and business professor, to choose to flee from a traffic stop.

“We have absolutely no idea what his motives were or what was going on,” Backes said.

The pursuit was conducted according to agency policy, Backes confirmed, saying that decisions to stop a vehicle are made on a case-by-case basis.

“In this case, we did not know who the driver was,” Backes said. “Traffic levels were low. There was minimal traffic out there at that time. We had multiple agencies coming to assist us so we knew we would be able to get the stop sticks down.”

The speed of Rundquist’s vehicle ranged from 60 to 80 miles per hour during the chase, but for unknown reasons he slowed down when passing through some smaller towns.

“When he went through Elbow Lake he actually slowed down,” Backes said.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

“We mapped the scene last night so there is a reconstruction going on that will obviously give us more details into the speed at the time of the impact,” Backes said.

It is not yet known whether or not drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, Backes said, adding that they would need to wait for the report from the Otter Tail County Coroner’s Office which could take anywhere from a few weeks to a month or longer.

However, Backes added that to the best of his knowledge, no alcohol was found in the vehicle.

Weather was not a factor. At the time of the crash the temperature was above freezing, according to Backes, who said that wet road conditions did not appear to have been a factor in the crash.

The chase began when a state trooper initiated a traffic stop on Highway 54, prior to Elbow Lake after noticing Rundquist was speeding. The State Patrol said Rundquist then fled the scene. The State Patrol and several other agencies utilized stop sticks, but the vehicle struck the stop sticks and continued to flee, according to the report.

The chase lasted about 11 miles before Rundquist’s vehicle collided with the Ashby Police car near Interstate 94. The Ashby police officer had exited his vehicle to help set up the stop sticks and to avoid danger in case of a crash.

“He had gotten to a place of cover so he would be more safe if something like this happened,” Backes said.

Rundquist was trapped in his vehicle and was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, according to Backes.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Damage to the squad car and Rundquist’s vehicle was listed as “severe,” in the State Patrol report.

There was heavy front end damage to the vehicle,” Backes said, describing Rundquist’s vehicle as undrivable and totaled.

No officers were injured during the pursuit.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, Ashby Police Department, and Fergus Falls Police Department assisted.

The Fergus Falls Police Department and Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office were at the scene after the crash assisting the State Patrol with directing traffic.

Council member’s death a ‘tragedy’

Fergus Falls mayor Hal Leland extended his sympathies to the Rundquist family, whom he visited Tuesday morning.

“I’m extremely saddened by that news and extend condolences to family and everyone who is definitely affected by this tragedy,” Leland said.

Friends and family were leaving messages of condolence on Rundquist’s Facebook page Tuesday.

Rundquist was elected in November 2012 to the Fergus Falls city council after beating Wally Cole and Mike Diekman with 38.67 percent of the vote. Ward 3 represents the northwest quadrant of Fergus Falls.

Rundquist had previously lost the Ward 3 council election to Jay Cichosz by one vote in 2010 after a recount.

Leland said he was not aware of any planned memorial events for Rundquist, saying the city was deferring to the council members’ family in those decisions.

Rundquist was a business professor at Minnesota State University Moorhead, and had been filling in since June as an assistant county attorney for Stevens County, Minn., which is south of Elbow Lake.