Mankato officers, fleeing driver and 1 other injured when pursuit ends in crash

Two police officers, the fleeing driver and another person were injured when a high-speed chase ended in a crash in southern Minnesota Tuesday evening, authorities said.The Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office said the chase started near Mankato, Minnesota, at County Road 11 and Highway 68. Deputies, members of a drug task force and the Minnesota Department of Corrections were trying to arrest a 43-year-old man with an arrest warrant for a drug conviction.The man fled, at times exceeding 100 mph, and hit another vehicle on Highway 14, the sheriff's office said. That car hit a Mankato police vehicle on the side of the road. The officer was outside of the vehicle at the time. The Minnesota State Patrol said a catalytic converter fell from one of the cars during the crash and a second Mankato police car hit it.According to the sheriff's office, the man refused to leave his car and "less lethal munitions were deployed but appeared ineffective." He eventually exited the car when it began to smoke and tried to run while wielding a "large knife," the sheriff's office said. Authorities used a Taser on the man and arrested him.He went to a hospital for examination before being taken to the county jail. Two Mankato officers were hospitalized and released after being treated for minor injuries. The driver of the other vehicle involved was also briefly hospitalized.Highway 14 was temporarily closed near Riverfront Drive after the crash.