Apr 11, 2018 | By: Shirelle Moore
Bemidji Woman Dies In Crash After Stabbing Boyfriend & Fleeing From Police
A Bemidji woman is dead after crashing her car during a police chase, following a stabbing.
The incident started last night, just after 10. The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office was called to the 5600 block of Alps Court to handle a domestic dispute.
“Raymond Oliver, he reported to us that he had been in an altercation with his girlfriend at their residence on Alps Court. During that altercation he claimed that he had been stabbed by her with a knife. He subsequently fled the residence to a neighbor’s residence,” says Beltrami County Chief Deputy Ernie Beitel.
Oliver was able to identify his assailant as 24-year-old Traci Cloud of Bemidji. When police arrived, they got that Cloud was parked out side of the neighbor’s home in her car.
“As our deputy was arriving on scene, he pulled into the driveway right behind her vehicle. She subsequently then fled across the yards from the driveway to escape from him. He initiated a pursuit from that location which went from Alps Court up to Highway 89,” says Beitel.
Cloud reportedly traveled 20 miles north before the chase ended in the crash.
“The vehicle had entered the right shoulder. It appears that she had over corrected and at that point lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle overturned,” says Beitel.
Cloud was ejected from her car. Police and ambulance personnel tried to give her aid, but she was pronounced dead.
“It had been reported that speeds varied between 100 miles an hour and 125 miles an hour. I don’t know the speed at the time of the crash, but from my understanding, it was a straight section of the roadway. There was no other traffic involved,” says Beitel.
Oliver was taken to the Sanford Emergency Department to be treated for his injuries. His condition is currently unknown.
“The crash itself is being investigated by the Minnesota State Patrol and the assault is being investigated by the sheriff’s office and the Beltrami County Coroner’s Office,” says Beitel.
Cloud was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt when she was ejected from her car.