Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

Donna Mae Ojala of Eagan was in the Scott County Courthouse in Shakopee.

She had two speeding charges. Donna was given minimum fines on both counts.

Judge F.J. Connolly thought all was fine, but the trouble came when Donna went to the clerk to pay the fine.

Donna wrote the check, and the clerk made out the receipts.

Then Donna took the receipts, tore up the check, and fled the courthouse.

A Scott County sheriff deputy sent out a radio call to stop the woman and the chase was on.

Donna left Shakopee on Highway 101.

Soon the Savage police and the Burnsville police added as she continued down Highway 13.

Robert O’Brien of the Eagan Police Department was waiting for the speeding woman at the intersection of 13 and Cedar Avenue.

His lights were flashing and siren on, but she just went around him.

“She was just flying down the middle of 13 like she was in a trance. Other cars were going off the road and into the ditch,” said Robert O’Brien in an article, “Five squads chase woman driver,” by the Shakopee Valley News, October 24, 1973.

By this time, no less than five squad cars were in pursuit of the woman.

Donna finally stopped just east of Blackhawk Road.

A police officer approached the car, and the woman flashed a gun at him. He ducked.

“I thought if she was crazy enough to drive like that, she was crazy enough to shoot.”

Officers, including one from Shakopee, attempted to break the woman’s car windows with a tire iron and jack.

Donna continued to make threatening gestures inside her locked car.

Finally, Donna rolled down the car window, and the officers subdued her.

She was led to a squad car in handcuffs and was later charged with aggravated assault.

Clearly Donna Mae Ojala was having a very bad day.

Donna Mae Ojala was born on May 17, 1939, in Minot, North Dakota, and was raised in Minneapolis. She moved to Eagan, where she had three children: John, Bryan, and Sonya Ojala. She died on December 30, 2016, at age 77. Donna’s funeral service was at the St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Eagan.

Bibliography

“Five squads chase woman driver.” Shakopee Valley News, 24 Oct. 1973.