Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Two area men landed in jail after leading Forest Lake police on a vehicle and foot pursuit on Monday.

Police were called to the parking lot at Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St., at 5:18 p.m. on a report of an assault in progress. The arrival of police signaled a chase as a 1992 Chevrolet pickup occupied by two men wanted for questioning in the assault report would not stop.

The chase went south of I-35 and continued on I-35W, Chief of Police Clark Quiring said. Some five miles into Anoka County, the pickup ran off the road and hit a tree. The two men then fled on foot, the chief said.

Four city officers pursuing the vehicle gave chase and captured the two men a short distance from the vehicle. One officers received a hand injury while going over a barbed wire fence, Quiring said.

Taken into custody were Joshua Effertz, 29, of 39440 Oakridge Drive, North Branch, who was driving the truck, and Justin Lee Mroz, 26, of 325 Main St., Anoka. The address for Mroz is the Anoka County Jail.

During the chase, police received information the pickup was stolen. That later proved to be false, Quiring said.

The female owner of the truck, who is reportedly the girlfriend of Effertz, is being investigated for possible charges of filing a false police report on a stolen vehicle.

The two men were taken to the Washington County Jail in Stillwater where they were held on various charges, including fleeing police.

Quiring said the man involved in the altercation in the Wal-Mart parking received no visible injuries during the incident.

Man critical

A Forest Lake man is in critical condition after a motorcycle crash at 5:16 a.m. Tuesday morning in Forest Lake.

David A. Holien, 46, was southbound on US-61 on a 1983 Honda motorcycle when he collided with a Dodge Caravan that was traveling west on N. 210th St. and attempting to cross US-61.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Holien was in critical condition at a metro area hospital after being airlifted from the scene.

The driver of the van, Krystale E. Bundy, 29. of Cambridge, received no apparent injury, the State Patrol said. The crash remains under investigation.

Officers from the Forest Lake Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff's Office joined Forest Lake Fire & Rescue to assist troopers at the crash scene.

More car thefts

Want to keep your vehicle from being stolen?

Don't leave the keys in the car in an unlocked garage, city police advised this week. There have been several like incidents in recent weeks.

On Saturday, Sept. 1, a resident in the 100 block of NW 4th St. reported that her 2006 Saturn had been stolen from the garage overnight. The woman told police she had left the keys in the car and woke Saturday morning to find the overhead garage door open and the car gone.

Police believe the thief entered the garage from an unlocked side entry door, opened the garage door and simply drove away.

Police advised residents to lock all garage doors and entry doors and to make sure ignition keys are not left in unattended vehicles.

Dummys hit

Burglars managed to make off with a safe and an undetermined amount of cash from a city bar and restaruant last week.

Police received a report of an overnight forced-entry burglary from Dummys Bar & Grill, 7050 Scandia Trail N. on Thursday, Aug. 31.

The burglars made off with a safe from the office and also attempted to get cash from the bar’s pull-tab operation. No arrests have been made.

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