Brandon Scott Brose failed to appear in court on March 30 to be sentenced for a number of offences, including stealing a Metro Mobility bus in St. Paul and driving across Ramsey and Washington counties with cops in tow.
According to criminal allegations, four hours after missing the hearing, he smashed a stolen automobile into a Washington County sheriff’s office squad car in Newport following a chase that concluded in Roseville with his arrest.
Brose, 31, of Minneapolis, appeared before Ramsey County District Court Judge Richard Kyle Jr. on Wednesday for his delayed sentence.
Brose faced probation as part of a February plea deal. Brose filed straight guilty pleas to motor vehicle theft and third-degree burglary on Wednesday after violating his terms of release from jail by abandoning a drug treatment clinic and missing sentencing.
Brose was sentenced to 19 months in jail for stealing the Metro Mobility bus on Jan. 20, and 18 months in prison for breaking into the Boys and Girls Club in St. Paul and stealing computers and other property on Nov. 26, 2020.
Brose’s lawyer, public defender Carole Finneran, told Kyle at the court that client had “serious difficulties” with methamphetamine. Instead of incarceration, she wanted a dispositional departure — workhouse and therapy, followed by probation.
Brose has demonstrated that he is not receptive to probation and is a public safety risk, according to Kyle. “I think you have a future once you deal with this drug issue,” Kyle said Brose, acknowledging his addiction.
Kyle was also found not guilty of three additional crimes, including evading police in a motor vehicle, second-degree motor vehicle theft, and third-degree burglary.
Brose agreed to a plea deal with Washington County prosecutors for the March incident in Newport on April 20. A 15-month jail sentence will be postponed in return for pleading guilty to motor vehicle theft and escaping police in a motor vehicle. He will also receive five years of probation. The date for sentencing has been set on June 6.
Brose was found guilty of stealing a Ford vehicle in St. Paul in 2020. He was convicted of stealing a Chrysler vehicle in 2021, and Ramsey County Judge David Brown sentenced him to three years of probation instead of a 13-month jail term. Brose’s sentence in that case will expire in August 2024.
According to a Metro Transit spokeswoman, Brose is also being probed in two previous Metro Mobility bus robberies.
