Days after a retired Minneapolis firefighter was released from jail after being charged with attempting to shoot former Minnesota Gophers running back Tellis Redmon, the former civil servant has racked up new charges in a chaotic encounter with law enforcement.
Officers report Eric Jagers cut off his ankle monitor and pulled out a hunting bow on police after leading two different agencies on a dangerous high-speed chase and crashing.
Police say the man might be suffering from a mental crisis.
Jagers was booked into the Minneapolis-area Hennepin County Jail after being arrested on assault charges on April 14 for allegedly shooting at Redmon. Court documents state the 54-year-old also called the former football player a racial slur during the altercation. A court granted Jagers a $25,000 bond on the condition that he wear an ankle monitor, and by April 20 he was released from jail.
Two days later, by 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 22, Jagers was dressed in camouflage and standing at the counter of a gas station some 200 miles from Minneapolis in Breckenridge, Minnesota, when police say he borrowed scissors from the clerk and cut the monitor off his leg.
When several officers tried to capture him at the Blazer Express station, he hopped in his vehicle, sped away, and led police on an hour-long chase before eventually crashing into a street sign, FOX 22 reported.
After the crash, Jagers jumped out of his vehicle while holding a hunting bow. The cops, who were from two different agencies, shot at him with bean bags and pepper ball rounds to disorient him.
Once secured, he was taken back into custody. For this escapade, he faced one charge of fleeing a peace officer and another charge of obstructing the legal process in Wilkins County.
The former firefighter was previously arrested for assaulting the former Gopher star and current dean at a Minneapolis High School.
Jagers faces two counts of second-degree assault, a reckless discharge of a firearm charge, and threats of violence in Hennepin County.
Redmond said Jagers started a fight with him while he was on his way to pick up his 5-year-old son.
As he cut through the alleyway outside Fire Station 4 on North 6th Street where Jagers used to work, his vehicle accidentally smashed over some wooden boards.
Jagers, reportedly upset that the boards Redmond ran over flew onto his property, hurled the N-word at Redmond and said, “ Say goodbye to your 5-year-old,” while pointing a gun to the man’s head, witnesses told police.
He allegedly added, “I am a firefighter, and I know the police,” and “I won’t get in trouble.”
Jagers had two weapons when police came to the scene of the crime. Despite having a pistol and a shotgun and refusing to lie down as the officers commanded him to do, he was tackled by the police and stopped from fleeing on foot.
The former firefighter was brought in by police without any shots being fired by the police— even as he resisted arrest and dangerously brandished his firearm.
Following his arrest, police documents state he “regrets everything that happened and wished that it never happened.”
A warrant reveals he also “admitted that he retrieved a gun from his garage when the victim refused to pick up the board that he ran over.”
Jagers alleges he did not shoot at Redmond but fired his weapon in the air before telling the former athlete and now educator, “He better pick up the board.”
Redmond’s legal representative says the counts “should elevate to a hate crime” since Jagers used a racial slur during his assault.
“My client, ex-[G]opher football player and current teacher, is a hero as he took on an armed and dangerous person to save his son and community from harm,” Lee Hutton, Redmond’s lawyer, said.
“Now, my client must face the reality of maintaining his family’s safety in light of charges against the perpetrator that should elevate to a hate crime,” he continued. “At the moment, my client and family are safe but left with concerns that enough is not being done to protect them from future harm.”
