WILLMAR -- Three men arrested Monday after a high-speed chase were arraigned on formal charges Tuesday morning in Kandiyohi County District Court.
Eric Flores, 22, Joseph Balboa, 21, and Arcadio Salinas, 19, were arrested on various charges ranging from driving while impaired to second-degree assault to third-degree burglary after the several incidents Monday morning.
The three men were spotted leaving the area of an alleged break-in around 1:30 a.m. and ended up fleeing Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputies in a vehicle without headlights, at speeds of up to 90 mph. The chase ended around 1:40 a.m. in Spicer.
According to reports by the Sheriff's Department, deputies responded to three separate intrusion alarm reports around 1 a.m. in the New London area.
While investigating the third report, three men -- later identified as Flores, Balboa and Salinas -- were seen allegedly fleeing the area in a vehicle.
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Balboa, of Pennock, was the driver of the vehicle and is facing six felony charges for burglary, criminal damage to property, assault and fleeing police officers. Balboa was held unconditionally on $90,000 bail. Conditional release was set at $5,000. Flores and Salinas, both of Willmar, were each charged with three felony counts of third-degree burglary - liability for the crimes of another. Unconditional bail was set at $75,000 for Flores and $50,000 for Salinas. Conditional release was set at $4,000 cash and $2,000 cash, respectively.
Balboa faces the same three burglary charges and other charges because he is the alleged driver in the chase.
The charges of second-degree assault and criminal damage to property were filed against Balboa be-cause he allegedly ram-med his car into a squad car during the pursuit.
According to the complaint, the three men led deputies through New London, driving through a cemetery and the parking lot at New London-Spicer High School parking lot, before heading down state Highway 9. At the intersection of Highway 9 and state Highway 23, the vehicle att-empted to turn north onto Highway 23, but was spun around by a deputy's squad car attempting to hinder the vehicle. The complaint states the vehicle then sped south toward Spicer, driving in the northbound lane without any headlights at speeds reaching 90 mph. Deputies continued to chase the vehicle through Spicer, before another deputy was again able to spin out the vehicle after it attempted a U-turn. The vehicle crashed into a light pole on the south end of Spicer, near the Green Lake Mall.
All three men were taken to Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar with minor injuries, but the complaint made note only of a head injury suffered by Balboa. He was not hospitalized. Flores is facing another felony charge for domestic assault after he allegedly head-butted his girlfriend and attacked her mother Jan. 19.
The men are scheduled to appear in court again March 5.
