Cliff Buchan
News EditorA tear gas canister was needed to bring a two-hour standoff on I-35 near Wyoming to a close Saturday night.
The standoff closed the freeway for two hours starting at 9:15 p.m. and resulted in two arrests after the State Patrolís special response team was called into action.
The incident began shortly after 9 p.m. when state troopers made a routine traffic stop of a white Dodge van at CR-23 and I-35W in Lino Lakes. When a trooper approached the van, the driver sped off to the north.
Other police departments were called for help. At northbound I-35 at US-8 in Forest Lake, the fleeing van encountered a stop stick bar deployed by a Forest Lake officer. The stop stick bar flattened one tire but the van continued north at 20 to 30 miles an hour, driving on one wheel rim.
The van went into the center median just north of Wyoming. A male and female riding inside the van exited the vehicle but retreated inside setting off the standoff, according to the State Patrol. The two refused to leave the vehicle.
Shortly after 11 p.m., officers of the patrolís SRT broke out a window in the van and shot tear gas inside.
The driver, Jeffrey David Fischer, 27, no address listed, and his passenger, Katelynn Marie Kahl, 18, no address listed, were arrested. A small amount of marijuana was found inside the van, the patrol said.
The two were taken to the Anoka County Jail where formal charges were pending.
Other crimes
In other crimes, police in Forest Lake are:
ïInvestigating a forced-entry burglary of an apartment unit in the 600 block of SW 12th St. on Nov. 6 that resulted in theft of a safe box containing $1500 in cash and personal papers, Chief of Police Clark Quiring said. The burglar or burglars gained entry to the apartment through a bedroom window, he said.
Top of Page
