Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Police arrested two Forest Lake residents on drug charges after executing a search warrant at a home here on Jan. 4. The warrant was one of two executed by area police, according to Chief of Police Clark Quiring.

Forest Lake officers assisted investigators with the Washington County Narcotics Task Force in executing a warrant at 1043 SE 3rd St. at 1:50 p.m. Quiring said the warrant was the result of an ongoing investigation by the county and city that is targeting methamphetamine use and possession.

At the home, police arrested Carla R. Norstad, 46, and Charles P. Drake, 49, both of 1043 SE 3rd St. They were booked in the county jail on probable cause of fifth-degree controlled substance crime, the chief said.

Two other individuals found inside the home were not detained.

In the second case, county task force officers, city police and deputies from the Chisago County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant at 931 North Shore Drive at 6:51 p.m. on Jan. 4. The investigation involves information collected in Chisago County.

No one was at the residence when officers forced open the door and no subsequent arrests have been made, Quiring said.

Vandals strike

Two of the green decorative light poles that help form the new streetscape on E. Broadway Ave. and the entryway to Lakeside Memorial Park were damaged by vandals last week.

Police received a report of the damage at 8 p.m. Monday. One of the light poles on the north side of the E. Broadway circle had been knocked down and a second pole on the south side of the street had been bent.

Quiring said the damage is likely the result of an out-of-control heavy duty vehicle of some sort. Tire tracks were found on the sidewalk near the damaged poles.

City of Forest Lake officials were attempting to determine the damage total this week.

In a separate but similar incident, a homeowner in the 9400 block of N. 235th St. told police at 9:20 p.m., Monday that someone used a vehicle to smash the post that holds the mailbox. The mailbox was found in the ditch.

Serious assault

A Columbia Heights man faces charges of felony fifth-degree assault by strangulation after an incident in Forest Lake in the early morning hours of Jan. 6.

According to police reports, the incident began here at 2:30 a.m. when a Wyoming woman, 19, was driving Matthew Lee Reinartz, 18, of 4237 NE 2nd St., Columbia Heights, to his home. Quiring said the incident took place on the Broadway Ave. I-35 overpass when Reinartz became angry over a cell phone call being made by the Wyoming woman.

Quiring said the man allegedly attempted to choke the woman. The woman, fearful for her safety, continued the drive to Columbia Heights.

After the man left the car, the woman call 911 for help. Minnesota State Patrol and Columbia Heights police became involved. Police there arrested Reinartz and turned the case over to Forest Lake officers.

The Columbia Heights man was taken to the Washington County Jail in Stillwater by the state patrol where he was booked on the felony charge.

The victim was interviewed by the police here.

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