WINONA, Minn. – In the still of a Sunday morning, about 8:45, the police officer couldn’t help but notice the car. The exhaust was obnoxiously loud. Also, the tabs were expired. And a taillight was dead. The officer lit the squad car’s rooftop flashers and turned on the siren. The driver kept going. Because roads were icy, the officer gave up the pursuit. But the officer had the car’s registration data in a master file and traced it to the 1700 block of West Seventh Street. There the officer arrested Ernest Marques Cummings Jr., 33. Why hadn’t he stopped when the officer tried to stop him? He hadn’t seen the officer’s lights or heard the siren because his radio was loud. Then too the was the muffler issue. The criminal complaint lists a raft of charges: Fleeing a peace officer, driving after suspension, and driving with expired registration. A message to Cummings: Fix the muffler and get as new taillight.
