Eagan Police Track Down Assault Suspect Using Helicopter, K-9 Officer

A St. Paul man has been charged with five crimes in connection with an incident last week in which Eagan police had to establish a perimeter near a gas station, call in a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter and use a K-9 officer to locate him.

Sean William Flynn, 23, is charged with third-degree criminal damage to property, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine; two counts of fifth-degree domestic assault, one ocunt of obstructing the legal process and one count of disorderly conduct, each of which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Flynn was arrested early on the morning of Oct. 28 and remained in the Dakota County Jail Tuesday on a $3,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to the Holiday gas station in the 3000 block of Holiday Lane at about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 28 when the victim reported that she had been assaulted by Flynn.

The victim told police that Flynn, her ex-boyfriend, had “bashed her on the head” with a vase and then used the vase to cause about $600 in damage to her car.

The victim said she and Flynn had argued that morning at his home in St. Paul, and he pushed her down a flight of stairs. She said she contacted St. Paul police, but had to leave to pick up her daughter from day care before an officer arrived to talk to her.

She said she and Flynn “worked through the situation” and she believed that they had worked out their differences, so she chose not to pursue the incident with St. Paul police.

The woman said she and Flynn were at her home in Inver Grove Heights later, and when they began to argue again, she decided to take him home. She stopped at the Holiday station in Eagan, and Flynn “freaked out,” grabbing a small glass vase containing a bamboo plant from her car’s back seat and hitting her in the head with it, according to the complaint.

Both the victim and Flynn got out of the car and continued arguing, and Flynn began hitting her car with the vase, then threw the vase into a garbage can and left the area on foot, the complaint says.

The victim told police that she drove away because she feared what Flynn would do if he came back, and because she had her daughter in the car with her.

With police listening, the victim called Flynn on his cell phone, and Flynn told her he was hiding in a nearby wooded area. During the conversation, an officer said Flynn was verbally aggressive, threatening her, using expletives and calling her a snitch.

Eagan police established a perimeter around the area and asked the Minnesota State Patrol to send a helicopter to assist in the search. Another officer arrived with K-9 officer Maverick, who immediately “began showing signs of human odor,” according to the complaint.

Maverick pulled the officer toward a tree line. The officer was about 10 feet behind Maverick in thick underbrush when Maverick sniffed, then “physically engaged” Flynn, who was lying on his stomach, holding both hands beneath his chest and rolling from side to side, attempting to avoid arrest, according to the complaint.

The officer kicked Flynn in the left leg, ordering him to show his hands and stop resisting, the complaint says, and Maverick “engaged the defendant’s right hand.” At that point, police were able to arrest him.