WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Winona man for a wild chase that had four squad cars in hot pursuit through the East End and the central city about dawn. James Robert Hernstine, 44, was arrested 7-1/2 hours after chase. Hernstine denied any involvement and said somebody else must have been driving his vehicle, police said. The cops didn’t buy the story and booked him for:
> Fleeing police.
> Speeding.
> Racing through stop signs.
> Driving recklessly.
> Driving with a revoked license.
Police had broken off the chase after five miles as too risky. They later found the vehicle, a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, ditched on the West End. Numerous documents linking to Hernstine were in the vehicle, Among them were bills addressed to his home address and a paystub. Officers had familiarity with Hernstine from past encounters, and about 3 p.m. they spotted him driving his brother’s car. This was in the 4000 block of West Sixth Street in Goodview. The chase had begin on the Far East End when police were investigating an alarm call and saw the Jeep speed off suspiciously.
Hernstine. Unanswered question: Why didn’t the driver stop when police activated their flashers? He sped up, police said, at times 50 mph through town.
Tracing the Jeep
Police initially were confused about who might be driving the Jeep that led hem on the chase. The figured out during the chase that the vehicle’s registered owner lived 17 miles out of town in Altura. When contacted, the Altura man, he said he had sold the vehicle to Hernstine two years and given hm the one and only key he had. Apparently, police said, Hernstine never filed change-of-owneriip documents required by the state. He had the Jeep key when arrested, police said.