{"id":73434,"date":"2026-11-14T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=73434"},"modified":"2026-11-13T17:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:32:12","slug":"hackensack-man-charged-in-pine-river-police-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/hackensack-man-charged-in-pine-river-police-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Hackensack Man Charged in Pine River Police Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

PINE RIVER, Cass County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Hackensack man faces felony charges following an alleged police pursuit through Pine River.<\/p>\n

Charles Michael Steffen, 50, of Hackensack<\/strong>, is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

He also faces a gross misdemeanor charge involving an ignition interlock driving restriction.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from an incident on September 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

Police Attempt Traffic Stop<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, a Pine River police officer noticed a vehicle traveling without working taillights.<\/p>\n

The officer activated emergency lights and attempted to stop the vehicle.<\/p>\n

However, the driver allegedly refused to pull over.<\/p>\n

Instead, the vehicle turned onto Iowa Avenue and continued eastbound.<\/p>\n

The complaint states the vehicle eventually reached an open field.<\/p>\n

Rather than stopping, the driver allegedly entered the field and continued fleeing.<\/p>\n

The officer followed the vehicle across the field.<\/p>\n

Passenger Reportedly Screamed for Driver to Stop<\/h2>\n

The vehicle eventually reached Barclay Avenue and continued westbound, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

It then turned onto Mill Street and entered the Pine River State Bank parking lot.<\/p>\n

During the pursuit, a passenger reportedly opened the vehicle’s door.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, the passenger could be heard screaming for the driver to stop.<\/p>\n

Despite those pleas, the driver allegedly continued moving.<\/p>\n

The vehicle returned to Barclay Avenue before turning into a residential driveway.<\/p>\n

Investigators reported that the driver continued into a backyard.<\/p>\n

The driver then jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/a>
Charles Michael Steffen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deputies Locate Suspected Driver<\/h2>\n

Authorities began searching for the driver after the vehicle stopped.<\/p>\n

The passenger identified the driver as Steffen, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

The passenger also reported that Steffen had been drinking.<\/p>\n

She claimed he had instructed her not to tell police about his drinking.<\/p>\n

A Cass County deputy later located Steffen walking near State Highway 371.<\/p>\n

Officers reported noticing an odor of alcohol during their contact with him.<\/p>\n

The complaint does not list a separate DWI charge.<\/p>\n

Ignition Interlock Violation Alleged<\/h2>\n

Investigators reviewed Steffen’s driving record following the incident.<\/p>\n

His driver’s license was valid but carried an ignition interlock restriction, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Police reported that the vehicle he allegedly drove lacked the required device.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors charged Steffen with violating that driving restriction.<\/p>\n

The charge is listed under Minnesota Statute 171.09<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Felony Fleeing Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Steffen also faces a felony charge under Minnesota Statute 609.487<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fleeing charge carries a maximum sentence of three years and one day in prison.<\/p>\n

It also carries a possible $5,000 fine, or both penalties.<\/p>\n

The gross misdemeanor carries a maximum of 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Cass County District Court under number 11-CR-26-1450<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Readers can search the case through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Steffen is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Hackensack man faces a felony fleeing charge after police say he drove through Pine River streets and an open field, then ran from officers on foot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[756,32424,883,2171],"trf_mt_town":[],"trf_mt_county":[],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-73434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-cass-county","tag-charles-michael-steffen","tag-dwi","tag-fleeing-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73438,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73434\/revisions\/73438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73434"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=73434"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=73434"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=73434"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=73434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}