Driver shot at St. Paul police with stolen firearm while fleeing traffic stop: Charges
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A St. Paul man has been charged for allegedly shooting at police with a stolen firearm while fleeing an attempted traffic stop.
Samuel Cal Flowers, 26, is facing several felony charges on Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 13 incident, including:
- First-degree assault for use of deadly force against a peace officer
- Attempted second-degree murder
- Being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm
- Drive-by shooting
- Fleeing police
- Fifth-degree drug possession
- Refusal to submit tests related to a DWI
Flowers remains in custody at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Thursday morning.
Shooting in St. Paul
The backstory:
According to the criminal complaint, a St. Paul police officer attempted to pull over a speeding driver in an Impala around 11 p.m. The officer activated his lights, but the driver fled.
Although the officer lost sight of the Impala, it was later discovered parked in between two cars. The complaint states the officer "turned on his emergency lights and used his squad car to push the Impala into the car in front of it as a containment technique. The impala broke free before it was successfully pinned, and it fled," the complaint reads.
During the pursuit, the officer turned off the squad car’s emergency lights and turned on St. Anthony Avenue. At that point, the officer came under fire from someone in the Impala, according to court records.
The officer reported seeing muzzle flashes, hearing gunshots, and seeing the Impala’s rear window break. Charges state the officer estimated that 10–12 rounds had been fired, but a review of the squad car footage revealed as many as 17 shots could be heard within a short period of time.
The complaint said a bullet fragment was recovered from a flat front passenger tire on the squad car. The officer was uninjured.
According to the complaint, additional squad cars pursued the Impala. When Flowers turned onto Fuller Avenue, he collided with a parked car and was subsequently taken into custody. The complaint states officers recovered suspected drugs on Flowers during his arrest, which reportedly tested positive for cocaine.
Officers searched inside the Impala and reportedly found:
- Ruger AR-556 without a stock
- Fourteen spent .223 casings from around the vehicle’s interior
- A round of .233 caliber armor-piercing ammunition in the firearm’s chamber
- Two additional armor-piercing rounds in the firearm’s magazine
Court records indicate the rifle had been reported stolen from Minneapolis in 2018.
While in custody, Flowers complained of pain from the crash, and he was transferred to the hospital. According to the charges, he exhibited signs of impairment while interacting with officers, but refused to comply with a warrant for blood and urine samples.
Flower's past criminal history
Dig deeper:
According to court records, Flowers was convicted in 2017 on a charge of first-degree assault after he and another man allegedly shot a drug dealer five times, four of which were in the back.
Flowers was also charged in juvenile court for a gang-related drive-by shooting in 2015. He received a stayed adult sentence of 36 months, but after a probation violation, it was requested the sentence be executed, according to court records.
Flowers was released from prison on March 4, 2024. Just eight days later, authorities reported Flowers had been found in possession of a firearm. He was taken into custody and posted a $100,000 bail bond. The firearms case is currently working its way through the Rasmey County court system.