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| Police in FL handle 222 celebration calls |
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| Wednesday, 09 July 2008 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor Call totals were modest during this year’s Fourth of July celebration in Forest Lake as police logged 222 incident reports. Chief of Police Clark Quiring said the call total included the period from noon on Wednesday, July 2 through 6 a.m., Sunday, July 6. The 222 calls compares to 250 calls during the five-day 2006 celebration and 398 calls during the six-day celebration in 2007. A Safe & Sober saturation patrol in Forest Lake on Thursday, July 3 added 33 incident reports to the period. The saturation involved nine officers, including one Forest Lake cop, two Washington County deputies and six police officers from other city departments in the county. The detail resulted in seven drunk-driving arrests, Quiring said. During the four-day celebration, officers in Forest Lake handled the following calls: •12 fireworks complaints •2 noise complaints •7 disorderly conduct reports •2 assaults •2 underage drinking reports •3 warrant arrests •7 medical calls •9 DWIs Police issued no tickets for violation of public consumption of alcohol, the chief said. He added that no problems were reported with tarp and chair placement along the parade route on the 4th of July. That was due to the city’s strong pre-parade enforcement posting notice that went up along the parade several days before the parade, Quiring said. Parade incident One parade incident was reported, the chief said. One man was taken to jail and a second was ticketed after they operated minibikes on Lake Street (US-61) during the parade on Friday. The two were observed by police swerving around parade units, but were not part of the actual parade. They were stopped at Lake at SW 4th Ave. A 25-year-old city man was arrested for driving while intoxicated and hauled to jail. His Razor MX 500 minibike was confiscated. The second man, a 26-year-old from Forest Lake, was ticketed for no bike registration and released. Pontoon burns An electrical problem may be to blame for a costly boat fire in Forest Lake on Thursday, July 3, according to Fire Chief Gary Sigfrinius. The fire department was called to the John D. Troje home, 1791 SE Beach Drive at 2:01 p.m. on July 3. At the lake home, Sigfrinius said the boat was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived. An electrical problem may be to blame, the chief said. The 2004 Manitou Osprey, a 115 horsepower Johnson motor and a boat lift were all destroyed by the blaze. The loss was set at $32,000, according to police and fire reports. 2 FL bars may face legal trouble Two downtown bars may face legal trouble and possible tickets over alleged violations of their outdoor entertainment permits during the July 4th celebration. Quiring said the city prosecutor will be asked to review case files on two incidents to determine if charges are warranted. The cases involve the Forest Laker, 131 N. Lake St. and the Upperdeck Grill & Bar, 55 S. Lake St. Police reports indicate that the Forest Laker exceeded its outdoor permit by allowing band music to continue some five to seven minutes after its required midnight closing on July 3. At the Upperdeck, the outdoor band music continued for about 10 minutes past the required 10 p.m. end time on Saturday, July 5, the police chief said. The Upperdeck incident followed requests by bar owner Vickie Bogotty for a special city council meeting to consider changing the Saturday closing time from 10 p.m. to midnight. The band was reportedly booked until midnight. A council quorum could not be reached last week and no change was made. Vickie Bogotty’s husband, Bo, sits on the Forest Lake City Council and can have no role in any discussion or a vote on any bar issue because of a conflict of interest. The Forest Lake Council had earlier granted outdoor entertainment permits to the two bars. The permits specified closing times for bands. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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