By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent 

Who ya gonna call after you’ve almost hit a police officer while leaving a party being busted by the cops and led them on a chase through several residential neighborhoods?

How about your mom?

That’s how police found 20-year-old Spenser Drew Buesgens, of Prior Lake, after he ditched his car and fled them on foot in the early morning hours of Feb. 21. As they were searching for him, police observed a vehicle circling the area of Vernon Avenue and Vernon Court about four times. They talked with the driver and learned she was Buesgens’ mother and she was driving around because her son called her for a ride.

Police asked Buesgens’ mother to call his cell phone and shortly afterward, he was arrested and taken to jail. He allegedly failed a series of field sobriety tests and agreed to submit to a blood-alcohol test.

According to police, Buesgens told them he didn’t want to get a citation for minor consumption or DWI when police arrived at the party in the 13300 block of Elaine Court.

In an effort to avoid the citation, Buesgens allegedly drove his car toward a police officer who was attempting to stop him from leaving the party and then led police on a chase through the Pond View, Rolling Meadow and Brett’s Farm neighborhoods.

As a result of Buesgens’ alleged actions, the Scott County Attorney’s Office charged him with two felonies: second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and fleeing police in a motor vehicle. He was also charged with three gross misdemeanor offenses: fourth-degree DWI, fleeing police on foot and reckless driving.

Social host violation

Also, the homeowner who allegedly hosted the party, a 21-year-old man from Savage, was cited for the city’s first social host ordinance violation. He told police that Buesgens arrived between 5 and 6 p.m. and he saw him drinking at his house prior to heading off on a party bus to another party.

The owner of the party bus was not cited for a social host ordinance violation.

“People think they can control or contain an underage party to a home and this shows how it can get out of control,” said Capt. Dave Muelken. “The intent of the ordinance is to take away venues where underage people can consume alcohol. (As a result of that party,) this 20-year-old’s actions could have turned out to be really bad.”

What happened?

According to the criminal complaint filed Feb. 22 in Scott County District Court:

Police were called to a complaint of a loud party at about 3:16 a.m., Feb. 21. When police arrived, there was a party inside and outside the home on Elaine Court.

As police attempted to quiet partygoers, officers noticed a Jeep Liberty running in the driveway with two people in the front seats.

Then police saw it backing down the driveway and into the street, which was full of partygoers and police officers. Buesgens allegedly drove the vehicle westbound on Elaine Court toward Yosemite Avenue and accelerated as he approached Officer Jason Engelke, who was standing in the street holding a flashlight and motioning the vehicle to stop.

Engelke reported that the vehicle’s headlights were shining on him when he pointed the flashlight at it and motioned to the driver to stop. Instead of slowing down, Buesgens allegedly accelerated toward the officer causing him to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Two other officers on the scene reported that Buesgens never slowed or swerved. And Engelke reported that he feared for his life, stating that if he hadn’t jumped out of the way, he would have been struck by the vehicle.

As Engelke jumped out of the way, he struck the side of Buesgens' vehicle twice; but instead of stopping, Buesgens allegedly continued driving over a snowbank and passed a parked party bus in order to flee the scene. Engelke was not injured.

Police pursued the vehicle southbound on Yosemite Avenue where Buesgens turned east onto 135th Street. The chase continued as Buesgens drove down Vernon Avenue before pulling into Vernon Circle, where he stopped, looked at officers and fled on foot.

Once Buesgens fled the vehicle, police found a 19-year-old girl inside the vehicle who told police that Buesgens told her: “I’m not getting a DWI,” while they were parked in a driveway on Elaine Court and during the car chase.

After Buesgens fled, police set up a perimeter and called for a Bloomington police K-9 unit to assist in locating him. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office and Burnsville police also assisted in the search.

When he was arrested, Buesgens told police that he was on the party bus earlier that evening and he’d passed out on the bus for a while.

Buesgens faces a maximum of seven years in prison and/or $14,000 in fines for the second-degree assault charge and three years in prison and/or $5,000 in fines for the fleeing police in a motor vehicle charge. He also faces a maximum of 90 days in jail and/or $1,000 in fines each for the fourth-degree DWI, fleeing on foot and reckless driving charges.

‘No routine call’

This incident goes to show what police officers are taught in training: “That there is no such thing as a routine call,” Muelken said.

“Responding to a noise complaint is not uncommon,” he said. “But this call reflects on how dangerous a police officer’s job is when he responds to a noise complaint and ends up facing his mortality with a vehicle bearing down on him.”

The “irresponsible and reckless behavior” of Buesgens unnecessarily put the officer in danger and also put the public at risk when he fled the scene, Muelken continued.

In addition, the homeowner violated the law by providing a place to drink, which goes to the purpose of the social host ordinance, he said.

The city of Savage adopted the social host ordinance in July last year. A violation of the social host ordinance is a misdemeanor offense that is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or $1,000 in fines.

Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at shogendorf@swpub.com.