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Police investigate robbery, abduction; theft of human ashes |
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Police in Forest Lake continue to probe a report of a robbery and abduction that took place here around 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Chief of Police Clark Quiring said a 19-year-old Stacy man has told police he was the victim of the crimes. Quiring said the man was in the Wal-Mart parking lot, 200 SW 12th St. when he was abducted and assaulted by three suspects.
Police reports said the man was driven to a residential area of Vadnais Heights where he was dropped off wearing only a T-shirt, jeans and socks after the suspects took all other possessions. A passerby reportedly picked up the man and took him to a hotel in Vadnais Heights. It was five degrees below zero at the time of the incident, police said.
At 12:01 a.m., police here were notified of the man’s situation by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office after that agency was called by the man.
Quiring said police here continue to probe the circumstances of the case. “We have a lot of unanswered questions and we continue to follow up on leads,” Quiring said.
There are times during the winter months when Forest Lake Fire & Rescue is called to the lake ice where a fishhouse is on fire. But fires of the like in parking lots don’t happen that often.
However, local firefighters had just such a call last Thursday night in Forest Lake.
Fire crews were called to the parking lot at Wal-Mart, 200 SW 12th St., shortly before 11 p.m. where a portable fishhouse was on fire.
According to police and fire department reports, a passerby, Seth Tveten, 18, of Forest Lake, saw smoke and flames coming from the fishhouse which was in the trailer bed of a pickup truck. He was able to drag the burning fishhouse from the truck before it could do serious damage to the vehicle, police said.
The fishhouse, owned by John Adamek, 43, of Columbus was valued at $500, was a total loss. The truck had minor damage to its bed-liner.
Forest Lake fire officials believe the cause of the blaze may have been a defective battery in the bed of the truck.
Other news
In other news, police continue to monitor the health status of a local man who fell outside his home last week.
The 87-year-old Forest Lake man who was found on his doorstep in the early-morning cold on Feb. 20 remains in critical condition at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, according to Quiring on Friday. The man is being treated for frostbite and hypothermia.
He was found lying on his front doorstep in the 22000 block of Jason Ave. N. around 9 a.m. after the man’s sister went to look for him when he failed to return to the house.
Quiring said it appeared the man had gone out to walk his dog and had somehow fallen on the front steps. He said it is likely the man was outside for about 30 minutes in the minus 11 degree temperature that saw wind chills approaching minus 30 degrees.
The dog was found safe.
The chief said the man was unconscious but breathing when city police officers arrived on the scene.
Woman’s ashes taken in burglary
Quiring said police and the staff at Mattson’s Funeral Home in Forest Lake are seeking the public’s help in locating the ashes of a Forest Lake woman that were stolen during a residential burglary on Feb. 23.
A resident of the 22000 block of Iverson Ave. N. returned home that evening to discover a forced-entry burglary had taken place. One of the items stolen was a four-inch by five-inch velvet jewelry bag, burgundy in color, that was lettered with Mattson Funeral Home. It contained the ashes of the homeowner’s mother who died recently.
The bag had been stored in a jewelry box and was among the items stolen, Quiring said.
The chief said the family is asking for the bag to be returned. The chief asked for the public’s help in keeping an eye out for the bag.
Quiring also said the bag may be returned anonymously with no questions asked to the Forest Lake Police Department, 220 N. Lake St., or to Mattson Funeral Home, 343 North Shore Drive. Anyone with information may call police at 651-464-5877 or Mattson at 651-464-3556.
DWI arrests up
Quiring reports this week that police continue to see a spike in the number of drunk-driving and driving under the influence arrests in the first two months of 2008.
With February unwinding, Quiring said police here have made 27 DWI or DUI arrests in the first two months. That compares to 11 during the same period in 2007.
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