Chronic offender brothers with warrants flee, cause crash with police vehicle
By Crime Watch MN, March 28, 2024
Two chronic offender twin brothers led police on a pursuit Tuesday afternoon in Anoka County that led to a crash with an undercover police vehicle, sending it through a residential fence.
According to charges filed against Ryan Michael Poppen and Richard Edward Poppen III, both 39, officers from the Blaine and Fridley police departments had been near Northtown Mall in Blaine Tuesday afternoon on a retail theft detail.
Officers spotted a vehicle known to be associated with the Poppen brothers, who were known to have warrants at the time, parked at a nearby auto parts store and thought it could be connected to the thefts.
While surveilling the parked vehicle, a Suburban with a missing taillight and dark tinted windows pulled up next to the parked vehicle. The driver of the Suburban matched the description of one of the Poppen brothers.
Police followed the Suburban as it left the parking lot, and attempted a traffic stop in Fridley near Ironton Street NE.
The Suburban fled from officers, and the Blaine squads discontinued pursuing the vehicle due to weather conditions.
A few blocks later the Suburban lost control due to the snowy conditions, striking an unmarked police squad, which caused the unmarked squad to go through a wooden fence and into a tree in a residential yard.
As other officers approached the crash site, they activated their emergency lights. The Suburban began driving southbound on East River Road NE, again fleeing from officers. As the vehicles neared 79th Avenue NE and East River Road NE, the Suburban lost control again and spun across the median into northbound lanes of traffic. The vehicle continued to spin before eventually stopping in the southbound lanes. Officers positioned their vehicle in front and behind the Suburban. The Suburban then reversed into the squad that was positioned behind it, causing the officer to violently move forward and back. Eventually the Suburban was blocked into a stop position and the passengers were removed from the vehicle.
The driver was identified as Ryan Poppen, and the passenger was identified as Richard Poppen.
A subsequent search of the vehicle located 0.3 grams of a substance that field tested positive fentanyl in the center console between the occupants.
Ryan Poppen has been charged with a felony count of fleeing police in a motor vehicle, and both brothers are charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Court records show both brothers have numerous active warrants in multiple counties, and both have extensive criminal histories.
Crime Watch previously posted Richard Poppen in Jan. 2023 following an arrest on several warrants. At that time, Richard Poppen had at least 42 prior convictions, including seven felonies.
Ryan listed an address in north Minneapolis in court records, and Richard listed an address in Northeast Minneapolis.
Both brothers remained in custody on Thursday evening. Ryan is being held without bail, and Richard has a bail amount listed of $40,000. Both also show active warrant holds from other counties.
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