Cliff Buchan
News Editor

There's no getting around it, Police Chief Clark Quiring said, the man just wanted to go to jail.

And Daniel J. Lowandowski, 27, of 5671 N. 141st St., Hugo, got his wish on Sunday. Lowandowski landed in the Washington County Jail on a host of charges after an incident at Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St.

According to police reports, Lowandowski allegedly filled a shopping cart with store merchandise and left the store without paying, grabbing a candy bar to boot.

Quiring said Lowandowski pushed the shopping cart to a vehicle that was left running with a 13-year-old boy inside. The chief said Lowandowski opened a car door and began unloading items from the cart.

The boy, the son of Rebecca Ann Lindeman-Cram of Wyoming, shut off the car and took the ignition keys to prevent the vehicle theft, the chief said.

Lindeman-Cram was inside Wal-Mart shopping at the time of the incident, Quiring said.

"The guy got out of the car and left," Quiring said.

When police arrived several minutes later, Lowandowski was back inside the store. He was then taken into custody.

Quiring said Lowandowski is facing charges of attempted theft of an automobile and gross misdemeanor theft for items removed from the store. Store officials told police Lowandowski had items worth $334.05 in the cart that had not been paid for, the chief said.

Quiring said the Washington County Attorney's Office has declined to pursue charges of attempted kidnapping.

Quiring said the man has a Hugo address but shows no permanent address as his home.

Other crimes

In other crimes in Forest Lake, police:

ïReceived a report of an attempted theft of copper from Winnick Supply, 92 SW 11th Ave. shortly after midnight on Feb. 1. Police said someone cut through the fence and entered the grounds with a vehicle and trailer. Scrap copper valued at $2000 was loaded in the trailer.

When the burglars triggered an alarm, Quiring said the suspects fled the scene leaving the trailer behind. Police are checking out leads tied to the trailer and have suspects in the case, the chief said.

ïReceived a theft report from W.T. Carlson Manufacturing Co., 795 SW 15th St. on Monday. The company said steel pieces valued at $1925 were stolen from outside the building over the weekend.

ïReceived a report of a theft from a fish house on 2nd Lake. Sometime over the weekend, someone broke a window and entered a fish house owned by Alex St. Sauver, Forest Lake, stealing more than $200 in fishing equipment and doing $60 in damage to the house.

ïAssisted with a number of property damage vehicle crashes on Tuesday morning that snarled area roads as a light snow fell. In one crash at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday on southbound I-35 at the US-8 merger point, southbound traffic was stacked and backed until the mess could be cleared, police said.

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