PRESCOTT – Prescott police helped a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter locate a fleeing suspect in Prescott’s trailer park in the wee hours of Thursday, Sept. 2.

Gabriel Alejandro Diaz Picasso, 23, Prescott, posted a $10,000 signature bond Sept. 3 in Pierce County Circuit Court on an obstructing an officer charge. If convicted, he faces up to nine months in jail and/or up to $10,000 in fines. In Dakota County District Court, he is charged with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and/or up to $5,000 in fines.

According to the complaints: At 12:26 a.m. Sept. 2, an MSP trooper on Interstate 35E in Eagan, Minn., observed a motorcycle traveling 85 mph in a 70-mph-zone. The trooper activated his lights and got in front of the motorcycle in an attempt to slow it down, but the motorcycle passed the trooper and fled.

The trooper had video of Diaz Picasso, as identified later when apprehended in Prescott, fleeing on the red motorcycle while wearing a grey shirt and backpack. Diaz Picasso exited onto White Bear Avenue and headed north. A traffic camera captured him at Highway 61 and Interstate 94. A helicopter was able to get a visual and followed him to Prescott, where he pulled into his residence in the trailer park.

Prescott police learned from dispatch at about 1 a.m. that a MSP helicopter was pursuing a red motorcycle that had crossed into Prescott on Highway 10. The helicopter operator relayed through dispatch that the motorcycle had fled into the Canton Street trailer park.

As the officer searched the trailer park on foot, a witness told him a red motorcycle was parked in between two cars just ahead of him in front of trailer #76 (Picasso Diaz’s address). The motorcycle’s engine was still warm to the touch. The officer raised his flashlight and found Diaz Picasso 20 yards to the south of him. As soon as the light hit him, he ran around the corner of a shed and refused police commands to stop.

The officer apprehended him immediately, and Diaz Picasso refused to answer any questions. Police found a helmet, grey jacket and black baseball cap lying on the ground where Diaz Picasso had been standing. The MSP met Diaz Picasso and the officer at Holiday, where they served him with impoundment paperwork for the motorcycle. The officer then took him to Pierce County Jail, where he was booked on an obstructing an officer charge. Diaz Picasso also has a suspended Minnesota driver’s license and motorcycle registration.

Diaz Picasso is scheduled to appear in Pierce County Circuit Court at 4:15 p.m. Sept. 22 for a review hearing. He will be extradited to Dakota County for the charge he faces there.