A man fleeing from law enforcement who slammed into another vehicle in Maplewood, killing the driver, later told an investigator it was his “instinct” to take off from police and “the dumbest thing to do,” according to charges filed Monday.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Nicholas John Price, 37, of Roseville, with criminal vehicular homicide and other offenses. The man who died was 61.

Roseville police were trying to arrest Price after his ex-girlfriend reported he assaulted her and threatened to set her on fire.

The crash was the second similar fatal incident in a week in Ramsey County. The collisions happened about a mile apart.

In both instances, Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies had been pursuing the drivers who allegedly caused the crashes, though they said in the first case they’d discontinued the pursuit about half-mile before the collision in a St. Paul church parking lot. In Friday’s case, the criminal complaint said a deputy was about half-mile behind and came upon debris from the crash 8 seconds after it happened.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Monday that they ask for assistance from the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter to track suspects from the air when possible, and they try to avoid daytime pursuits in areas with a lot of traffic or pedestrians.

“We terminate a majority of our pursuits, but there are always going to be instances like this, where the recklessness of the criminal is going to cause a tragedy,” Fletcher said. “… In order to decrease crime, sometimes you need to pursue and apprehend felons.”

In a statement posted to social media Monday, the sheriff’s office extended their “condolences to the family and friends of the 61-year-old man” who died after “Price drove recklessly into his car.”

“… Hopefully, if he is found guilty of his latest crimes, the judge will deliver a sentence that sends a strong message to him and others like him who continually commit crime after crime after crime: Enough,” the statement continued. “It’s time to change or go to prison. Price has been arrested or charged more than three dozen times. He refused to change.”

Crash into cemetery fence

About 7:30 p.m. Friday, Price’s ex-girlfriend called 911 and reported that Price threatened to set her on fire, grabbed her by the face and shoved her against a wall and injured her hand, the complaint said. The 29-year-old said it happened in Roseville and she’d left that location.

Roseville officers saw Price’s Chevrolet Tahoe around 10:23 p.m. on Ramsey County Road B West near Dale Street, and tried to stop it. Price kept driving. Roseville officers attempted a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver to get the vehicle to stop, but it didn’t work.

Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies joined in the pursuit near Ramsey County Road C and Rice Street. Law enforcement lost sight of the Tahoe and saw it again at Edgerton Street and Little Canada Road in Little Canada.

Roseville officers left the pursuit along Little Canada Road near Interstate 35E, according to Roseville Deputy Police Chief Joe Adams.

Video showed the Tahoe was speeding south on Edgerton Street when it crashed into a Toyota Corolla near Roselawn Avenue, the complaint said.

The Corolla was heading north on Edgerton Street and the driver was going to take a left on Bellwood Avenue when Price slammed into the car, which pushed it across the road and into the fence of Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery, according to the sheriff’s office.

“The deputy came upon debris in the road when he crested the hill near Roselawn Avenue,” the complaint said.

The 61-year-old Corolla’s driver, who was alone in the car, was trapped, told deputies he couldn’t breathe and asked what happened. He stopped communicating with first responders when they tried to extract him from his car.

Medics took the man to the hospital, where he died. The sheriff’s office said he’d gone into cardiac arrest. Officials hadn’t released his name as of Monday afternoon, pending notification of his family.

Suspect: It was ‘fight or flight’

A sheriff’s investigator went to speak with Price and he told her: “I shouldn’t have ran or anything, but that’s what I do — fight or flight” and asked if the other driver was OK, according to the complaint.

Price told the investigator that his girlfriend moved out of his residence after they broke up the day before. She returned to talk on Friday and accused him of cheating. Price decided to leave and his ex-girlfriend “was in his way, so he moved her using an open hand,” the complaint said of what Price reported.

He didn’t want his ex to be alone in his residence, so he grabbed the car seat holding her 3-month-old baby to try to make her leave, then set it down, he said. He said he hadn’t choked or assaulted his ex, as he’s accused of, and said she lied about it.

Price said he went to a bar in Little Canada “because he was stressed out,” but said he didn’t drink anything. He said he was driving when he saw “around five squads behind him,” they activated their emergency lights and rammed his vehicle, the complaint said of his account.

“I wish I never did,” the complaint quoted Price as saying about fleeing from police. “… I hope to God the people I hit are OK or not dead. I feel horrible about that.”

He said all he remembered was trying to get away, and that he planned on getting out of the Tahoe and running because he didn’t want to be driving at that speed. He said he turned his highlights off to evade law enforcement, that he thought he was going 80-90 mph on Edgerton, and he didn’t think law enforcement was following him when he crashed. He said he didn’t recall seeing the other vehicle.

When Price was informed the other driver died, he became emotional, the complaint said. He asked if he’d be released within 48 hours to spend Christmas with his children.

A blood sample was taken from Price and will be submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing. He told law enforcement that he’d taken an oxycontin prescribed to his ex-girlfriend for neck pain and he smoked marijuana earlier in the day before the crash.

Pending trial in 3 other cases

The county attorney’s office charged Price with criminal vehicular homicide and fleeing a peace officer. He is also charged with threats of violence and domestic assault by strangulation in the Friday case with his former girlfriend. Price’s driver’s license has been revoked since December 2015, according to a Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services spokesperson.

At the time of Friday’s incident, Price was pending trial in three separate felony cases in Ramsey County. He’s charged with theft, stalking and third-degree assault in another case, and three counts of motor vehicle theft in a third case.

“Price has failed to appear and repeatedly violated the terms of his conditional release on those files,” Monday’s complaint said. “Price keeps getting released due to his claims that he is participating in treatment.”

He has three previous felony convictions.

Price made his first court appearance in the new cases via Zoom from the hospital Monday. He had a suspected broken leg from the crash, according to the complaint.

Price was granted a public defender; it wasn’t known Monday which attorney would be representing him.