Cliff Buchan
News Editor

The sight of a pickup truck loaded with more than 1500 pounds of commercial grade shielded copper wire seemed just a bit unusual and a bit suspicious. And so it was when police stopped that truck last week and used a search warrant to check a mini-storage unit.

Police were called to Forest Lake Mini-Storage, 407 SW 15th St. at 1:16 p.m. last Friday after business officials reported the pickup truck and thought it suspicious.

At the scene, police arrested James J. Tobako, 26, of 22737 Amazon St., Stacy. He was held on a U.S. Marshalís warrant for probation violations tied to robbery charges. Tobako and a second man, a 26-year-old from Forest Lake, remain under investigation for felony possession of stolen property.

Chief of Police Clark Quiring said the tip from the mini-storage business helped officers recover stolen property from two business burglaries in McLeod County and one from Xcel Energy Co. in White Bear Lake.

After making the initial stop, Quiring said police secured a search warrant to gain lawful entry to one of the storage units. Inside the storage unit, he said police found a host of power tools, hand tools and a large quantity of the commercial grade copper wire that is believed stolen.

Quiring said the value of the recovered copper wire is in the area of $30,000.

Felony possession of stolen property charges against the two men are now being considered by the Washington County Attorneyís Office, Quiring said. Police are also in process of seizing the Chevrolet pickup that was used to haul the copper wire.

Police said the copper wire can be sold as scrap metal. Commercial grade copper wire with the cover shield in place can net $1 a pound while copper wire with the shield removed can net $2 to $3 a pound, police said.

Other news

In other police news, officers here:

ïArrested Wayne W. Middelstadt, 47, of Forest Lake, on a charge of violation of conditional release at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Police were called to Whispering Pines, 7 NE 5th Ave., where the man had made contact with a person under which there is a court order for no contact. Middelstadt was found hiding on the roof after police observed an open door hatch to the roof of the apartment building. He was taken to jail.

ïTicketed two juvenile females from the Forest Lake area, ages 16 and 15, for underage drinking at Lakeside Memorial Park at 7:20 p.m. Saturday.

ïAre investigating the theft of a 1995 Chrysler convertible from the 900 block of SW 3rd Avenue sometime after 9 p.m. on Monday night.

ïAssisted Chisago County Sheriffís Office deputies with the arrest of a California man wanted on warrants after the man fled police at 4 p.m. last Friday. The car chase ended near US-8 and US-61 in Forest Lake where the vehicle was forced off the road. The man fled north on foot along the Hardwood Creek Trail where he was stopped and arrested by Sgt. Greg Weiss who used a stun-gun to subdue the subject. He was taken to the county jail in Center City.

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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