Cliff Buchan
News Editor

A one-car crash on I-35 in Forest Lake last week claimed the life of a Rush City man.

The Minnesota State Patrol said Ryan Carter Dary, 30, was killed Wednesday, Dec. 1 when his vehicle left northbound I-35 in Forest Lake and struck a power pole. The crash happened at 7:35 p.m. one mile north of TH-97.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Dary's 1991 Toyota Celica was traveling in the right lane when it left the roadway and struck the power pole, killing the driver. Dary was alone in the vehicle, the State Patrol said.

According to witness reports, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway, police said this week.

Guilty plea entered

Itís taken a year, but law enforcement officials are nearing the end of a case that claimed the life of a St. Paul woman on I-35 in Forest Lake.

Lucas Karl Lundeen, 27, of North Branch, pleaded guilty on Nov. 30 to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. A second felony charge was dismissed.

The case involves the death of Rita Gorz, 18, who died on Dec. 14, 2003 after she was struck by a northbound vehicle on I-35 north of the CR-2 (Broadway) exit in Forest Lake. She was a passenger in a car that had stopped on the shoulder of I-35.

Lundeen surrendered his pickup to authorities in Forest Lake a day after the womanís death. Witnesses told police that a pickup matching Lundeenís was involved in the hit-and-run death.

Tissue evidence collected from the truck was matched to the victim by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Sentencing in Washington County District Court is scheduled Jan. 28, 2005.

FL crime reports

Two Cambridge men were arrested in Forest Lake on a parcel of outstanding warrants after police made a routine traffic stop.

A Forest Lake officer on routine patrol stopped a vehicle at 1:22 a.m. Tuesday morning after observing the vehicle did not have a license plate light.

Harry J. Creger, Jr., 21, was held on a warrant from Isanti County. His passenger, Darrin D. Creger, 24, was held on six warrants relating to three charges of driving after revocation, two warrants for no insurance and one warrant for a probation violation.

Both men were taken to the Washington County Jail and booked.

Police, acting in partnership with store officials at Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St., arrested a North Branch woman on Dec. 2 for prescription forgery.

Police arrested Laura C. Wittwer, 25, on fifth-degree controlled substance crime after police and store officials took action after the woman allegedly forged several large quantity orders of Vicodin.

Police on routine patrol of apartment building parking lots took a 19-year-old Harris man into custody on a charge of felony possession of narcotics, methamphetamine.

Three other individuals were questioned and released. Formal charges are pending against the Harris man.

Police also arrested a shoplifting suspect after an alleged theft was reported at Intimate Treasurers, 119 N. Lake St. on Dec. 5. The man was apprehended after a short chase in the municipal parking lot. The suspect is also believed involved with a July shoplifting incident at the downtown store.

Police are also staying busy with more reports of thefts from vehicles, store thefts and drive-off reports from city gas stations. Two more reports of counterfeit money being passed have also come in, including one on Monday from Sinclair, 308 S. Lake St.

Police also assisted the Minnesota State Patrol on a number of vehicle crashes. In a crash report from northbound US-61 at NE 4th Avenue, one accident victim was transported to Regions Hospital, St. Paul, for treatment.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605