Man Charged After Campus Assault Leads To Wild Police Pursuit

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- An arrest warrant has been recalled after a man who caused a lockdown at the St. Cloud Technical and Community College last month was booked into the Stearns County jail early Thursday morning.

Twenty-year-old Dawson Pawluk is charged with felony damage to property and misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a student at the school and damaging another student's parked car. The incident prompted school officials to lock down the campus out of an abundance of caution.

Dawson also faces charges in Crow Wing County for hit-and-run and fleeing police later that day.

After the incident at the school, Dawson allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of Highways 371 and 210 in Baxter. Pawluk's SUV collided with a pickup in the intersection, injuring the driver.

Court records allege Dawson fled the scene and led a Baxter police officer on a high-speed chase, including through a construction zone. The officer eventually ended the pursuit due to safety concerns.

A Cass County Sheriff's deputy spotted Pawluk's Jeep speeding through Pillager and tried to make a traffic stop. The officer lost sight of the vehicle just outside of Motley.

The deputy spotted Pawluk's SUV in the town of Motley after it had crashed into a building near the intersection of Highway 210 and Highway 10.

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Court records allege Pawluk told officers he didn't want to stop for them and that he already had felony charges against him in St. Cloud, so why not add to them.

Police say Pawluk was making light of the charges by giggling and adding that more felony charges "look cooler". Officers say Pawluk told them that he purposely ran the red light because he had done it before and was an adrenaline junky. He also allegedly made suicidal comments and said that while he didn't purposely cause the crash, it was fun.

Pawluk is making an appearance in Stearns County District Court on Thursday. He is due to appear in Crow Wing County Court at the end of July.

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