Two Men Charged with Dragging, Injuring Trooper

BLUE EARTH (AP) -- Two Wisconsin men have been charged with dragging and injuring a Minnesota state trooper during a traffic stop.

A criminal complaint says Trooper Doug Rauenhorst and his partner pulled over a Jeep for a traffic violation last Thursday in Faribault County and suspected the driver and passenger from Milwaukee were transporting drugs.

The complaint says Rauenhorst was partly in the vehicle when the driver accelerated and the passenger punched the trooper in an attempt to force him out of the Jeep.

Prosecutors say Rauenhorst was dragged along Interstate 90 before he fell out of the moving Jeep. He was treated at an Albert Lea hospital for his injuries.

The 28-year-old and 29-year-old men were charged this week with fleeing police, third-degree assault and felony drug possession.