A Forest Lake man was hit with terroristic threat charges last month after allegedly saying that he would kill his neighbor over the summer.

Jeremy Douglas Glem, 45, of Forest Lake, was charged Nov. 12. According to a criminal complaint, a neighbor of Glem’s at their apartment on the 23800 block of Forest Boulevard North reported Glem’s behavior to Forest Lake police on July 25 of this year.

Over the previous months, the complaint said, Glem had been behaving disturbingly, most frequently screaming and being loud in his apartment. The neighbor said he had regularly heard Glem yelling that he was going to kill someone.

The neighbor made the report because the previous day, he was exiting his apartment when Glem allegedly hurled a 40-ounce glass bottle at the neighbor’s apartment; the bottle allegedly shattered near one of the neighbor’s windows. Later that day, the man said, he heard Glem shout, “I’m going to burn this whole house down with everyone inside.”

The next day, the neighbor said, he heard Glem screaming for several hours and eventually decided to confront him. He went to Glem’s apartment and asked him to be quieter, at which point Glem allegedly screamed that he was going to kill the neighbor, adding, “I have a bullet with your name on it.”

The following are other recent court cases related to the Forest Lake area:
• Cole Jeffrey Ductan, 24, of Burnsville, was charged Sept. 17 with theft and possession of burglary or theft tools related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Matthew Lee Wright-Mark, 21, address unknown, was sentenced Sept. 25 for a fifth-degree drug crime and felony theft related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Kedric James Ross, 30, of St. Paul, was charged Sept. 28 with motor vehicle theft related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Alysha Ann Jansma, 25, of Forest Lake, was charged Sept. 30 with a fifth-degree drug crime and misdemeanor domestic assault.
• Nicholas Peter Larsin, 30, of Chisago City, was sentenced Oct. 1 for a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Patrick Alan Haddeland, 41, of Woodbury, was sentenced Oct. 2 for a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Edward Leroy Smith, 40, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Oct. 7 for felony domestic assault by strangulation.
• Brittany Dawn Mcneilly, 27, of Forest Lake, was charged Oct. 8 with child neglect.
• Austin Joseph Harris, 22, of Forest Lake, was charged Oct. 8 with third-degree assault.
• Doran Levll Rice, 32, of Minneapolis, was sentenced Oct. 14 for check forgery related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Beau Raymond Hengtgen, 33, of White Bear Lake, was sentenced Oct. 15 for a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Donald Nicholas Garcia, 31, of Forest Lake, was charged Oct. 15 for possession of burglary or theft tools, theft and soliciting a juvenile to commit a crime.
• Thomas Joseph Mcmanus, 79, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Oct. 22 for receiving stolen property.
• Ashley Jane Marlette, 24, of Grand Rapids, was charged Oct. 29 with a third-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Kyle Jon Gonier, 30, of East Bethel, was charged Nov. 4 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Nicholas Patrick Warnke, 27, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Nov. 12 for felony theft.
• Dillon James Teeselink, 35, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Nov. 12 for a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Cody James Sommers, 23, of Wyoming, was sentenced Nov. 12 for a fifth-degree drug crime.
• David Michael Cline, 46, of St. Paul, was charged Nov. 12 with theft related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Kenneth William Lease, 52, of Inver Grove Heights, was charged Nov. 12 with a fifth-degree drug crime and DWI related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Kyle Richard Kappes, 28, of Andover, was sentenced Nov. 13 for a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Andrew Mark Murschel, 21, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Nov. 13 for second-degree assault. According to court records, he stabbed a female family member. Learn more in The Times’ July 30 story “FL man charged with assault” or online at tinyurl.com/gqd6msm.
• Stephen Thomas Paul, 56, of Forest Lake, was charged Nov. 16 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Adam Mark Kolodziej, 32, of White Bear Lake, was charged Nov. 19 with receiving stolen property related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Nicholas Shawn Christians, 25, of Forest Lake, was charged Nov. 20 for a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Brandon Douglas Petersen, 28, of Forest Lake, was sentenced Nov. 20 for felony theft.
• Latrice Monea Hargrays, 22, of White Bear Lake, was charged Nov. 24 for issuing a dishonored check related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Marcus Alan Kocina, 25, of Ramsey, was charged Dec. 2 for receiving stolen property and a fifth-degree drug crime related to an incident investigated by Forest Lake police.
• Charles Henry Radtke, 28, of Stacy, was charged Dec. 3 with two fifth-degree drug crimes.

A Forest Lake man was charged Dec. 7 with first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13 after he was accused this summer of molesting a girl who attended his wife’s home day care in the early 2000s.

Forest Lake police began investigating Timothy Gordon Deflorin, 61, for his alleged crimes after receiving a report in July from a 17-year-old girl that Deflorin had raped and molested her multiple times when she was between the ages of 2 and 5. According to a criminal complaint, Deflorin’s wife, Debbie, ran a home day care in Forest Lake in the 1500 block of 12th Street SE from 2000 to 2006. Debbie Deflorin died in November of this year.

According to the complaint, the girl had repressed memories of the sexual assaults until they were reactivated as the result of recent events. The girl told police that while she was in day care, Deflorin often took her out to his truck and had sex with her, being gentle and telling her that she was being good. She allegedly recalled him buying her presents after he’d have sex with her.

Though the alleged sexual assaults usually occurred in truck outside of the home, the girl recalled that the last time Deflorin assaulted her was different. On her fifth birthday (in 2003), the complaint said, Deflorin took the girl into a bathroom in the home and sexually assaulted her, causing her to bleed. Deflorin allegedly tried to comfort her and told her he loved her before laying on top of her, causing the girl to black out after struggling to breathe.

Later, he allegedly cleaned her with a washcloth and gave her one of her favorite toys as a present. The girl’s mother reportedly told police that after the girl’s fifth birthday, she refused to wear the outfit she was wearing that day.

According to the complaint, police also interviewed the girl’s sister, who attended the same day care. Though the sister did not have many memories about the day care, she said that she did recall riding in Deflorin’s truck one day when he allegedly tried to pull down her underwear.

Forest Lake police are investigating a holdup robbery that occurred shortly after midnight today at the Forest Lake MotoMart, located at 1898 Lake St. South.

According to initial police reports, the robbery around 12:08 a.m. An employee at the gas station reported that a man entered the store with his hand stuffed into his pocket, implying that he had a gun in his coat. The man reportedly told the employee that he didn’t want to hurt him and demanded cash from the register. The employee turned over between $200 and $250 as well as a pack of cigarettes, and the robber fled to the south or southeast.

The employee described the robber as a skinny white man in his late 20s or early 30s, with a pointy nose, blue eyes and measuring about five feet, six inches in height. After viewing surveillance video, police noted that the robber was also wearing a gray hoodie and gloves and was using a red bandanna to cover much of his face.

Police attempted to locate the man shortly after the robbery, including utilizing their K-9 officer, but were unsuccessful.

The case remains under investigation. There are no suspects at this time.

Photo courtesy of the Forest Lake Fire Department
Firefighters Mike Swenson and Kyle Brook save a black lab from the icy waters of a pond near the 4800 block of 200th Street in Forest Lake Dec. 18.

A woman was airlifted to Regions Hospital after a three-car crash at the intersection of Harrow Avenue and State Highway 97 in Forest Lake Dec. 27.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the crash occurred around 2:45 p.m. when a Chrysler Voyager driven north on Harrow by Alexandra Mann, 32, of North St. Paul, ran a stop sign and hit a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Molly Wold, 43, of Inver Grove Heights, and a Volkswagon Jetta driven by Jaclyn Gariepy, 27, of Circle Pines. The State Patrol is still working to determine the logistics of how both vehicles became involved in the collision with Mann’s van.

Mann, who is suspected by the State Patrol of being under the influence of a controlled substance at the time of the crash, was airlifted to Regions, while Wold and Gariepy were both hospitalized as well. All three had non-life-threatening injuries, while a female passenger in Mann’s vehicle was not transported.

The incident is still under investigation.

In a front page story this week, The Forest Lake Times counted down its picks for the top 10 stories for the year. Our readers, however, determined what their own top stories were with their Web traffic in 2015. The following is a list of the top 20 most viewed stories this year on www.forestlaketimes.com.

1. FL man’s murder charge lists asphyxiation as cause of death; Sept. 14, 7,194 views
The top story this year by more than 1,000 clicks was the news of the arrest of and charges against Lauren Mason Grove Lynch for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Grace VanNorman.
2. Employee shot in Don Julio robbery; May 27, 5,492 views
A Don Julio’s employee was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after he was shot in a late-night robbery.
3. School bond referendum results; Nov. 3, 4,694 views
Readers turned in in droves to find out whether the Forest Lake Area Schools bond referendum would pass or fail. Question 1 succeeded with about 51 percent of the vote.
4. Man extricated after farm accident; June 17, 3,879 views
Forest Lake firefighters rescued a Stacy man who was trapped between his tractor and trailer June 16 near the intersection of Fenway Avenue and 190th Street.
5. More than a coach; April 29, 3,650 views
A feature on the retiring Forest Lake dance team coach Cheryl Smoczyk was the top sports story of the year.
6. Forest Lake’s newest ice cream parlour looks to open in June; May 27, 2,922 views
Residents were excited to see Cherry’s Ice Cream come to town this summer.
7. Large fire starts at Bergen’s, Waldoch; April 15, 2,745 views
As the last coals cooled at the Bergen’s fire in Columbus, readers kept up to date on developments from the blaze online.
8. Man charged with pimping FL teenager; Nov. 23, 2,691 views
A St. Paul man was arrested after Forest Lake police talked to a woman who said he acted as her pimp when she was 17 years old.
9. Erickson’s recovery continues; Jan. 21, 2,651 views
Readers were tuned in to news about the recovery of Jessica Erickson, the Forest Lake Area High School senior who was involved in a serious car crash in late 2014.
10. Teachers cut as school board approves $2M reduction; March 31, 2,617 views
To avoid dipping into its fund balance, the Forest Lake Area School Board voted to terminate or not renew contracts equivalent to 19 full-time positions.
11. Despite protest, council lays off patrol officer; Dec. 8, 2,512 views
12. Early morning crash proves fatal for bicyclist; Sept. 16, 2,489 views
13. No students hurt in fatal crash; Feb. 10, 2,342 views
14. Teen crime spree suspect arrested in Forest Lake; Aug. 4, 2,263 views
15. Family struggling with congenital disorder celebrates every moment; Feb. 25, 2,234 views
16. FLHA bantam director arrested after alleged bus theft; March 6, 2,145 views
17. One officer makes a difference; Dec. 2, 1,953 views
18. Carly’s owner oversees remodel, two new restaurants; May 13, 1,878 views
19. Swapping safe; Nov. 27, 1,810 views
20. Old 61 Deli to open in bakery spot; Jan. 6, 1,758 views

The Forest Lake Times covered a wide variety of stories in 2015, chronicling growth, hard times, controversy and progress. Here are 10 stories The Times feels had the biggest impact on readers, based on interest and how those stories affect the communities in and around Forest Lake.

10. YMCA work begins
Though its construction and partial city funding was approved last year, the Forest Lake YMCA still managed to make headlines throughout 2015. First, in February, a deal between the YMCA – Greater Twin Cities and Forest Lake Area Schools to expand the facility’s planned pool size for use in school events was scuttled when the City Council voted not to approve changes in the YMCA’s contract that would have allowed the school-nonprofit partnership. Council members cited cost concerns and lack of concrete details as factors in the decision, though Mayor Stev Stegner questioned the council’s act of affecting the actions of a separate governmental body.

In June, the council bumped heads with the Forest Lake Planning Commission when it sent the YMCA’s site plan back to the commission after expressing concerns about the site’s traffic flow and the safety of the parking lot and a nearby retention pond. The commission responded by returning the plan unaltered to the council, with members saying that the plan was fine as is. The YMCA offered compromises of its own and eventually reached a plan acceptable to the city, though council members criticized the commission’s actions on the matter.

Ground broke on the YMCA’s construction in July, and construction continued on schedule into late fall, when warm temperatures aided crews’ progress on the building’s exterior. The facility is set to open in July 2016.

9. Compost issues continue

After a formal cancellation of the city’s compost contract with Buberl Recycling & Compost in 2014, the Forest Lake City Council voted in July to start the process of suing the city’s former compost site operator. Further legal action was avoided the following month, however, when the city agreed to terms that saw Buberl leave the site by end of September in exchange for Forest Lake being responsible for cleaning the remaining, potentially contaminated materials Buberl left on the land.

With the site operator gone, Forest Lake still faced cleanup costs of $175,000 or more before the land would be usable. In October, the council met to discuss possible futures for the site: getting another contractor, allowing other uses, running a site itself or partnering with Washington County to run a joint compost site.

8. Road work today and tomorrow

Whether talked about or actual, road improvements were a hot topic in Forest Lake, Columbus and Scandia throughout 2015.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation was active in the area, as it began construction that will transition Forest Lake’s two U.S. Highway 61/State Highway 97 intersections into roundabouts. In the fall, it also made several changes to 97 east of 61 in an attempt to improve traffic safety on a road infamous among locals for nasty crashes. Though improvements included eliminating some bypass lanes, restriping and installing “mumble strips,” some residents found the improvements confusing or not conducive to overall safety on the road.

The area’s potential for road projects was also a frequent source of discussion. In February, Gov. Mark Dayton listed the U.S. Highway 8 bridge over Highway 61 as a infrastructure piece he would like to fix in a wideranging infrastructure improvement plan. However, local Columbus and Forest Lake officials were more interested in replacing the aging, out-of-date Highway 97 bridge over Interstate Highway 35 with a bigger roadway that meets current and future needs – a project for which state representatives and other advocates continue to seek state funding.

Finally, Forest Lake chose to forgo a few high profile potential road projects, including the realignment of Everton Avenue near Cub Foods. The most fervent resident voices on street improvements spoke up during the summer, when residents of Imperial Avenue disagreed over whether or not the council should conduct special assessments to finish paving the oddly structured street. The council ultimately opted to not move forward with either improvement, at least for now.

7. Buildings all around

Wyoming and Forest Lake seemed deluged with news of new buildings and business expansions this year – not all of them without controversy.

In Forest Lake, the YMCA was the highest profile building in town, but the City Council was also pleased to deal the land in the city center outlots to Gaughan Companies, who announced plans to build two single-story buildings to host a few different businesses. Though the council was happy to get the land back onto the tax rolls, some residents complained that the buildings obscured the city center from the road and mostly served as new homes for existing businesses, rather than bringing new commerce to town.

In Wyoming, residents learned that Polaris was expanding its local facility, a solar farm was likely coming to the town’s south, and new senior housing called Heims Lake Villas was being built in town. Some residents near the Polaris plant took the opportunity to question what they say is special treatment for the business as Polaris trucks rolled by homes creating traffic and dust, while the council was concerned about the solar project, part of a state mandate for power companies to use more renewable energy, taking up valuable buildable land.

6. Fire in Columbus

It’s been eight months, and state fire marshals are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the April 15 fire at Bergen’s Greenhouses in Columbus. The blaze, which destroyed the entire 450,000-square-foot Bergens’ compound and damaged nearby Waldoch Craft, is possibly the largest property fire fought in the history of the Forest Lake Fire Department (only a 1908 fire at Houle Oil Company comes close).

The cause of the fire still has not been released to the public; the logistics of looking into the fire are complex because of its size and other factors. No one was seriously hurt in the fire, and Waldoch reopened its doors days later. Bergen’s, which also has locations in Park Rapids, Detroit Lakes and Bismarck, North Dakota, announced at the time that it planned to rebuild in Columbus.

5. Restaurant roulette

“More restaurants” is a common refrain among Forest Lake residents when asked what kinds of businesses they’d like to see in town, and Forest Lake Times readers thrilled to the prospect of new eateries announced this spring. Since that time, some of the promised restaurants have opened their doors, one has closed, and two more have yet to arrive.

Local restaurateur Ross Tappe announced two new restaurants this year and one remodeled one: quality but fast Mexican restaurant Cilantro’s, local deli Old 61 Deli, and a remodeled Carly’s Cafe. Carly’s reopened with a ‘50s diner vibe in May, but a few months later, Chisago City residents Mackie Vue and Amanda Vang bought the business and transformed it into New Bangkok, a Thai restaurant that’s earned early positivity from locals since it opened in November.

Though they were originally scheduled for respective spring and summer debuts, Old 61 Deli and Cilantro’s have not yet opened. This fall, Tappe told The Times that he was still hard at work establishing both spots as popular eateries to come. Meanwhile, one door down from Cilantro’s on Lake Street, new ice cream parlour Cherry’s Ice Cream opened this summer.

4. Grisly murder

Forest Lake residents were shaken in September when news broke that police had arrested Lauren Mason Grove Lynch, 27, for the murder of his live-in girlfriend, Grace VanNorman, 36. Though Lynch was arrested Sept. 12, when he was interviewed by police, he allegedly told them that he’d killed her three days earlier. His alleged story was backed up by police findings, as VanNorman’s body was found in a state of decomposition and police were originally called to the apartment complex where the couple lived because a neighbor complained of a bad smell coming from Lynch’s unit.

In his second-degree murder charges, court records state that Lynch is believed to have murdered VanNorman during an argument by smothering her with a pillow, later stabbing her in the neck. He then allegedly stayed with VanNorman’s body in the apartment for three days, until police arrived and arrested him without resistance.

Though he was arrested and charged in September, Lynch has yet to file a plea.

3. LILA expands

If not for the school district’s bond referendum, the Lakes International Language Academy’s expansion would have been the biggest education story in Forest Lake this year. Fresh off the opening of its new Headwaters campus in late 2014, the immersion school announced this spring that it would be adding seventh and eighth grades in the fall of 2015, followed by the remaining four high school grades the next fall.

The move allows students currently enrolled in LILA to finish out their entire K-12 education at the public charter school. The school also plans on offering sports and other extra-curricular activities at the high school level.

At the end of the year, the school received a unique honor for a collaborative art project contributed to by students, teachers and others. Recognizing the project and LILA’s other accomplishments, Gov. Mark Dayton declared Dec. 8, 2015, to be LILA Day in the state.

2. Officer cut in budget shake-up

The Forest Lake City Council approved its budget and property tax levy with even more controversy than in 2014, cutting a patrol officer over cries of protest by a packed audience chamber at City Hall.

Council members were unhappy with city staff’s initial proposals for its 2016 budget, which would have raised the city’s overall property tax levy by about 7.32 percent. Thanks to rising property values and additions to the tax rolls, the actual tax impacts to the “average” Forest Lake homeowner would have increased by about 5 percent. Council members urged cuts.

Staff returned with a plan that would cut two patrol officer positions from the Forest Lake Police Department’s budget, a plan that split the council between those not willing to decrease the police force and those who thought the city’s public safety spending should take a broader view than simply police and fire. During the planning process in August and September, however, the city received additional information about fiscal disparities and property values that considerably lessened the expected property tax impact. The council approved a preliminary levy that kept all officer positions, but Mayor Stev Stegner eventually joined Councilmen Ed Eigner and Ben Winnick in looking for additional cuts to the police budget. Though the overall levy total ended up being the same as the preliminary levy’s $8.96 million, about $90,000 was moved out of the Police Department budget to other areas, requiring the layoff of patrolman Max Boukal. Some residents mounted an unsuccessful campaign to keep his job and told the council that there would be repercussions at the ballot box next year.

1. Bond referendum passes

After voters vetoed a similar bond referendum in 2014, all eyes this Election Day were on the results of the Forest Lake Area Schools’ latest bond proposal: a $143 million issue that would pay for improvements to aging infrastructure, fund updated security and facilitate the transition of all junior high and high school students to the combined campus of Century Junior High and Forest Lake Area High School. This time, the bond was passed with 51.23 percent of the vote, with an $18 million second question (for sports and arts facility improvements) failing by a similarly close margin.

School taxes will increase over the next two years (an $177 increase from current levels for a $200,000 home) and remain at that level over the remainder of the 30-year bond. Bond supporters have said that the arts and sports facilities are still in need of improvement, and they have voiced interest in finding alternate means to fund those projects.

Bidding on the project will commence this spring, with construction, renovation and demolition work being done over the next few years. The School Board is planning on finishing improvements in 2019.

An odd series of events at the North Shore Apartments kept Forest Lake firefighters busy the morning of Jan. 6.

According to Fire Chief Alan Newman, the department was paged on an emergency call to the apartment building at 1167 North Shore Dr. shortly before 9 a.m. On the way, firefighters learned that a water leak had occurred on the building’s third floor, and when they arrived, they were told that the odor of gas was coming from the building’s boiler room. Around the time firefighters arrived, they saw a woman near the apartments who collapsed, prompting them to call an ambulance and provide medical aid.

“It was kind of a series of unrelated events that came together to make it a pretty interesting call,” Newman said.

At this point, there was no fire, but because of the water leak and potential gas leak, firefighters evacuated the building and put protective coverings in the apartments that were directly below the ones with the water leak. They also cut power to the six apartments affected by the leak.

“Our concern in a water damage always in an apartment like that … is the ceiling getting saturated and falling on people,” Newman explained.

Firefighters also investigated the boiler room at this time to determine the source of the gas smell, but as firefighters were in the room, a large flame arced from the boiler up to the ceiling. An equipment malfunction with the boiler had caused the water leak, which in turn had shut off the boiler’s pilot light, and when the gas leak occurred, the room began to fill with gas until a spark ignited it while the firefighters were present.

Firefighters quickly contained the fire, and the gas leak was stopped shortly thereafter. Newman said it was good fortune that firefighters were in the boiler room at the time the flame ignited, or the fire may have been allowed to burn for much longer before anyone noticed it.

No one was injured, and the woman who collapsed was treated and released at the scene.

A 40-year-old Forest Lake man was charged with three counts of second degree assault and one count of misdemeanor domestic assault after allegedly brandishing a knife at multiple people during an argument on New Year’s Day.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Washington County Court on Jan. 4, Forest Lake police responded to a home in the 800 block of 18th Street Southwest around 1:40 a.m. Jan. 1 after hearing reports of an argument. Upon arrival, police were allegedly told by two people at the residence that they had been arguing with Shawn James Lehmann when the argument began to get physical. At that point, they said, Lehmann brandished the knife and told them he had “no problem” killing them. Police later spoke to a third individual who told them that Lehmann had threatened her with the knife as well.

The complaint alleged that after officers arrived and secured Lehmann, he told them where the knife was, and they recovered it. Lehmann was taken to Washington County Jail.

The final few days of 2015 and the first ones of 2016 were busy for the Forest Lake Police Department. Though the department responded to a few DWI incidents over the time period, including a drug-related injury crash (see the Dec. 31, 2015, story “Three hurt in Harrow Avenue crash”), officers also handled a few unsuccessful capers courtesy of alleged thieves and burglars around the city.

Attempted burglary

Police received a call around 4:30 a.m. Dec. 26 regarding a suspicious man walking around private property near Highway 97 and 18th Avenue Southeast. A man who lives on the 1200 block of 18th Avenue saw a man carrying a pry bar on his land, and when he confronted him, the man drove away. When investigating the area, police found pry marks on the main door of the nearby Karl’s Korner BP, indicating that someone had unsuccessfully attempted to break into the building. Later, the police viewed surveillance video and saw that the man confronted by the caller tried unsuccessfully to pry open multiple doors around the gas station for several minutes before leaving the scene. There are no suspects at this time.

Plow truck theft

A 30-year-old Bovey woman was arrested the morning of Dec. 29 after allegedly trying unsuccessfully to steal a plow truck from the Forest Lake municipal maintenance garage at 843 Fourth St. SW.

According to police, officers received a call shortly before 6:30 a.m. that a woman had tried to take one of the trucks, which was being loaded with salt at the time. After he finished loading the truck, the driver reportedly opened the door to the cab and saw a woman in his place, pushing buttons on the dash and pushing the accelerator and brake pedals simultaneously. She was ordered out of the truck, at which point she walked away. Officers attempted to track the woman and eventually found and arrested Jamie Lee Jordan, who allegedly admitted to the attempted theft. She was booked in the Washington County Jail.

Foiled break-in

Two men were arrested by Forest Lake police around 1:45 a.m. Jan. 4 after they were allegedly interrupted in their attempts to burgle a garage.

According to a police report, officers responded to a 911 call in the 900 block of Eighth Street Southwest on a report of a burglary in progress. When police arrived, they allegedly saw two men, Joseph Michael Stawychy II, 34, of an unknown address, and James Richard Lindorfer, 27, of White Bear Lake, exiting a garage. The men were told to stop, but they allegedly fled police into a nearby swamp, where they were eventually tracked and caught by the Police Department’s K-9 officer. The stolen property from the garage was recovered and returned to the owner.

The men were reportedly carrying a number of tools, including a car jack, flashlights, a set of knives, a walkie-talkie and backpacks.

A 73-year-old Columbus woman is one of two people dead in a Jan. 12 accident in Linwood on Viking Boulevard Northeast.

The head-on crash occurred shortly before 9 a.m. near Viking Boulevard’s intersection with 200^th Avenue. Though the case is still under investigation, the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office reported that it appears that a pickup truck driven by Genie Ann Mohr, of Columbus, drifted across the center line and collided with an SUV driven by Curtis Richard Durand, 64, of Mound. Both drivers died at the scene.

The sheriff’s office reported that by the time deputies arrived, the pickup truck was on fire. The office also reported that Thomas Rush, 35, of Grandy, witnessed the accident and stopped to help, spotting and rescuing a young child who was belted into the back of the truck. The sheriff’s office credited the man with saving the child’s life.

The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting the sheriff’s office with the investigation.

A North St. Paul man was sentenced last month for his robbery of the Forest Lake American Legion in late 2014.

According to court records, Eric James Anderson, 48, was sentenced to 10 years of probation, time in jail, a fine and restitution for his simple robbery charge, which was leveled against him for the Legion robbery on Christmas Eve 2014. Anderson was waiting in a back room of the building, and when the day’s pull tab profits were brought into the room, he demanded the money, snatched the bag the profits were in (about $4,100 worth), and ran out the north fire exit. He was pursued by passersby and was able to flee the scene in a red Jeep Wrangler, but not before keen observers read his license plate. Police determined that the Wrangler was owned by a man who frequently lends it to Anderson.

Though Anderson eluded authorities after the Dec. 24 robbery, he was later collared by Eagan police at a bar in the city. On Dec. 30, records state, Anderson was at the bar claiming to be a police officer who was investigating pull tab robberies. He reportedly watched a pull tab employee so intently and for such a long amount of time that she called police. When police arrived, records state, they found Anderson in possession of an imitation firearm and a black ski mask, and he told them he was a bounty hunter looking for a bail jumper. Nearby, police found the red Wrangler, which contained Anderson’s girlfriend (whose name Anderson gave to police as the bail jumper) along with a substance they believed was cocaine.

In a follow-up interview with Forest Lake police, Anderson claimed to have been at a friend’s home in Trade Lake, Wisconsin, for the entire day of the Christmas Eve robbery, but police ultimately found witnesses who said that he arrived at Grantsburg, Wisconsin, late that night, carrying with him a large amount of cash (one witness said that Anderson gave him some of the cash to finance his girlfriend’s bail). According to the witnesses, Anderson went to Grand Casino in Hinckley later that night. Cell tower records also appeared to place Anderson in or near Forest Lake.

Cooperative drunken driver

A St. Paul man stopped by Forest Lake police Dec. 14 allegedly turned out to be an unusually compliant drunken driver, according to a recent criminal complaint filed in Washington County Court.
Touashelue Vue, 21, was charged Dec. 15 with receiving stolen property and DWI. According to court records, he was driving on Lake Street near 11th Avenue when an officer saw his Jeep Grand Cherokee cross the median and make other erratic movements. The officer activated his lights to pull the vehicle over, and Vue allegedly stopped the Jeep, got out, knelt, put his hands on top of his head, and said without prompting that he’d stolen the vehicle from St. Paul and was driving it drunk. He allegedly said he’d seen the vehicle at a bar (where he’d had several shots) with its door open and the keys inside, so he’d decided to take it. His blood alcohol content reportedly was over twice the legal limit.

Burglary charge

A Forest Lake man was recently charged for burglary after police allegedly caught him living in a rental property that he’d broken into.

Perry Glen Marten, 43, was charged with third-degree burglary and fifth-degree drug possession after Forest Lake police arrested him on Dec. 14, 2015. That evening, according to court records, a local property manager informed police that someone was living in a rental property in the 100 block of Lake Street South without permission and had barricaded the door. Police arrived and allegedly found Marten, who told them he’d been staying at the property for the last few days. They also allegedly found two bags of methamphetamine on the scene.

The following are other recent court cases related to the Forest Lake area:

Matthew David Mollen, 31, of Scandia, was charged Dec. 4 with DWI.
Thomas Matthew Och, 48, of Scandia, was sentenced Dec. 16 for violating a no contact order.
Brian John Dougherty, 26, of Wyoming, was charged Dec. 18 with a fifth-degree drug crime and carrying a pistol without a permit.
Brandon James Schoberg, 27, of North Branch, was charged Dec. 18 with a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
Martin Anthony Dirkx Jr., 44, of Scandia, was charged Dec. 24 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
Dustin Joseph Maurer, 26, of Little Falls, was sentenced Dec. 28 for a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
Jamie Lee Jordan, 30, of Bovey, was charged Dec. 30 with attempted theft of a motor vehicle in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.

On Jan. 10 around 12:45 p.m., Forest Lake firefighters received a call about a partially submerged fish house on fire on third lake in front of Tim’s Marina. Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters were unsure if anyone was in the ice house or of how thick the ice was, so crews launched the department’s ice boat to get to the house. It was determined that no one was in the house, and firefighters extinguished the fire and assisted the Department of Natural Resources and local water patrol in putting out snow fencing and thin ice signs in the area.

Fire Chief Al Newman said police found and interviewed the owner of the house, who allegedly saw that the house was sinking and decided to light it on fire. His name and motive have not been released.

Newman said the incident was an important reminder to make sure ice is thick enough to carry significant weight before walking or driving onto it.

“Even with the cold weather, ice is unpredictable,” he said.

He added that between putting out the fire and placing the ice warnings, firefighters were on scene for about 2 1/2 hours. He said those who were on the call missed the Vikings’ playoff game, joking that due to the way the Vikings played in their 10-9 loss, missing the game might not have been a bad thing.

Circle E Liquors on 208^th Street North in Forest Lake was robbed around 9 p.m. Jan. 13. After a police search with a K9 unit and helicopters, law enforcement was unable to find the suspect.

According to police, a lone man entered the store, implied to a clerk that he had a weapon and demanded that she fill his bag with cash. The clerk was uninjured.

The Forest Lake Police Department’s K9 attempted to track the robber from the store but lost track of him in the surrounding neighborhood. The residents of the neighborhood were asked to lock their doors and to call police if they saw anything suspicious. The Minnesota State Patrol aided law enforcement with a helicopter.

Police said the man is white, about 6 feet tall, slim and was wearing dark clothes and a blue bandanna. He is believed to have committed the crime by himself and may have had a vehicle that he drove away from the scene, which police say may have been waiting for him when he fled south from the building.

The case is still under investigation.

About a month after a controversial Forest Lake City Council vote to lay off patrol officer Max Boukal, one councilman had stern words for police officers he said have been working behind the scenes to undermine and “target” council members for their decision.

Councilman Michael Freer had a previous engagement that kept him from attending the Dec. 7, 2015 council meeting, which included the 3-1 approval of Boukal’s layoff (Councilman Richard Weber voted against). However, he made his presence felt at the council’s Jan. 11 meeting, saying that no matter his opinion of the council decision, he was appalled by the audience’s rude response.

“I attempted to … sit and watch that meeting but decided it wasn’t good for my blood pressure to actually do that,” he said.

During the Dec. 7 meeting, the audience of at least 100 sometimes got unruly, interrupting the council discussion at points when they objected. Among other outbursts, the crowd loudly grumbled after Mayor Stev Stegner said that Police Chief Rick Peterson’s seeming inability to find other areas of his budget to cut besides an officer felt like “a power play,” and after the vote to lay off Boukal, one man called out, “Cowards!”

Freer saved most of his remarks, however, for what he said is a minority of the police department that is working against the council in retribution for the layoff. He said he has spoken to multiple community members who are aware of police officers engaging in such activity.

“Every member of this council has been attacked, and I mean attacked,” he said. “We have been targeted based on what was happening with a vote that was coming up.”

Though he said that the majority of the police department was behaving ethically, Freer said the officers who have joined with other community members to target the council are hurting the community and should be encouraged to stop by other officers.

“Each one of you is supposed to be ethical and have integrity, and I had no doubt that was true,” he said. “At this point, I’m not sure about some of them, and I would hope that people within the department … would step up and make sure that these other people get back in line.”

It was not clear from Freer’s remarks specifically what he meant when he said council members have been targeted. Publicly, a few police officers spoke during the Dec. 7 meeting asking the council not to lay off Boukal, and three officers wrote a column in The Forest Lake Times predicting a negative impact if Boukal was let go. When asked by The Times about his remarks, Freer said he was intentionally vague to protect himself and other council members.

“I was very nonspecific for a reason,” he said. “I don’t want to give anybody ideas.”

Though Freer did not elaborate on the behavior he was addressing at the meeting, The Forest Lake Times is aware of efforts that took place before the layoff to encourage the council against the action and campaigns that took place after the layoff to get the council to change its mind or to protest the decision. At least some of these efforts involved police officers as well as other community members. The community efforts included handing out fliers around town and buying an ad in The Times requesting that people contact the City Council.

On social media, there have been a couple of groups involved in the Boukal layoff, but it’s not clear whether any local police officers are directly involved. The Facebook group Save FLPD Officer Max, which had more than 1,200 members at press time, made several posts regarding Boukal’s position, though the group hasn’t posted anything since Dec. 28.

The other large Facebook group to take up Boukal’s cause has been the Minnesota Police News Connection, which posts a variety of police news and stories from around the state. The group, which had about 6,500 members at press time, has accused the council of political gamesmanship and called for a boycott of Stegner’s and Councilman Ben Winnick’s businesses. It also posted links to the businesses’ Facebook pages and encouraged readers to visit the pages to complain. At the height of the protest, several of the business pages appeared to have been shut down.
The moderator of the Minnesota Police News Connection makes reference to his or her career in law enforcement, but which law enforcement agency he or she is or was associated with is unclear. The Forest Lake Times sent requests for comment to the organizers of both Facebook groups but did not receive a response before press time.

Police Chief Rick Peterson did not wish to comment on Freer’s remarks but said that the department has not received any complaints about specific officers’ behavior related to the layoff.

Alicia Lebens

Stillwater Gazette

A man who recently moved from Scandia was charged with violating the terms of his registration as a predatory offender after he was allegedly involved in a drug bust in Hugo.

In October of 2015, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office had begun an investigation into the possible sale of controlled substances on the 5600 block of 147th Street in Hugo. According to a criminal complaint, the officer identified Martin Anthony Dirkx, Jr., 44, formerly of Scandia, as one of the subjects involved in the distribution of controlled substances. During the investigation, the officer discovered that Dirkx had an active felony warrant for arrest for failure to register as a predatory sexual offender.

According to the criminal complaint, officers executed a search warrant on Dec. 22, 2015 at the location in Hugo but were unable to find Dirkx. During the investigation, officers were able to find Dirkx’s place of employment and made an arrest. According to the criminal complaint, Dirkx was searched, and officers found 1.75 grams of methamphetamine. Dirkx was charged with felony fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.

During his arrest, the criminal complaint said, Dirkx said he did not believe he had to register the move from Scandia to Hugo despite continuing to use his address in Scandia as his home address. According to the criminal complaint associated with his felony warrant, Dirkx had been living on the 12200 block of 228th Street North in Scandia. When officers went to check on Dirkx in 2014, the residents told officers he had been kicked out of the house early in 2014. It is unclear where Dirkx has been living in the past two years.

This is Dirkx’s second violation of the predatory offender registration requirements since his conviction of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1992. His first violation was in 2008. As part of the terms of his conviction, Dirkx is required to register until March 11, 2028.

Derrick Knutson
ECM Post Review

Chad Worden, who had been the chief deputy of the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office until Jan. 18, said to numerous media outlets that Sheriff Rick Duncan gave him an ultimatum on Jan. 4: Resign or he’d be fired.

Worden, reached by telephone after the meeting, said the point of contention between him and the sheriff was the hiring of the sheriff’s son, Kyle Duncan, as a patrol division deputy.

Worden said he first became aware that Kyle had applied to work at the department in July, and soon thereafter he began receiving questions from other deputies in the department about whether or not the sheriff’s son would be hired.

“I was kind of forced to say to them that I didn’t know what the sheriff was going to do,” Worden said.

Worden explained that he made his concerns about hiring Kyle known to the sheriff.

“I had expressed some concerns about that, and the sheriff stated that it didn’t matter and he was going to go ahead and hire whomever he wanted,” Worden said.

After Worden tendered his resignation, his position was left open for two days. The Board of Commissioners has to vote on the appointment of any chief deputy, and it voted 4-1 to move Capt. Brandon Thyen, who headed up the Chisago County Jail, into the position of chief deputy. Commissioner Lora Walker voted against the appointment.

County Administrator Bruce Messelt, also reached after the meeting, explained that the hiring of Kyle adhered with county and sheriff’s department policies, and it did not amount to nepotism (the practice of those in power hiring family or friends) because the sheriff would not be supervising his son.

“Kyle applied to be a deputy and went through the testing and evaluation last fall and was ranked high enough to be offered a job,” Messelt said.

Messelt and County Human Resources Director Renee Kirchner vetted Kyle’s application and recommended the hiring of him to the board. He started with the Sheriff’s Office in late December.
Messelt further explained that he and Kirchner took additional steps to ensure the sheriff would not be supervising his son, even indirectly.

“We removed the sheriff from the chain of command for personnel supervision,” Messelt said.

He noted that he kept the board informed of the potential hiring of the sheriff’s son when he and Kirchner were reviewing his application and test scores.

“I briefed the board in December (via telephone) that there was a concern (about the potential hiring of Kyle) and that we were working through a policy,” Messelt said. “I said the process here is a little messy, but I found no evidence that it’s dirty. I can find no evidence that what occurred was illegal, immoral or unethical.”

On Jan. 22, Duncan released a statement addressing the allegations by Worden.

“The events reported over the last few days are two separate issues,” Duncan wrote. “In regards to the hiring of my son, I abstained from any involvement with the testing, interview and background process. My only involvement in the hiring process was to recommend the county hiring of qualified candidates who passed all aspects of the testing process to fill the current openings. This is in accordance to Chisago County hiring policy.

Out of respect for Mr. Worden, and in an effort to comply with data privacy issues, I am not able to speak of any personnel issues related to Mr. Worden at this time.

Currently, Mr. Worden has mentioned a possible lawsuit, therefore disallowing any further discussion or statements on my part.”

Board meeting

At the Board of Commissioners meeting Jan. 20, a resident addressed the resignation of Worden and the hiring of the sheriff’s son as a deputy.

That resident was Mark Olsund, who ran for sheriff against Duncan in the last election cycle.

“The previous chief deputy was forced out after he had the courage to expose unethical an inappropriate behavior on the behalf of Sheriff Rick Duncan,” he said. “Some people will be saying that his son will not be working directly for the sheriff, so it’s OK. But after the chief deputy was forced out for simply expressing his concerns over the matter, the message is clear to the deputies that they are expected to be quiet. I am not saying his son is not a worthy applicant, but he needs to be hired somewhere else so that the citizens can have faith in their sheriff’s office.”

Walker also expressed her concerns about what she said was a forced resignation.

“I think that when we tell our deputies that they cannot, within the scope of their job, question practice, policy and implementation of such policy, that we certainly set ourselves up for whistleblower complaints,” she said. “I see that this is that exact issue. I truly do not support the action in replacing the chief deputy. I may, myself, file a whistleblower complaint, because this is wrong.”

The other commissioners noted that Thyen was more than qualified to be chief deputy and they were voting on moving someone into a vacant position at that meeting; Worden’s resignation was not brought to the board prior to the meeting to be discussed as part of the agenda.

“It must have been about 20 years ago, when I was on the Rush City Council, we hired Brandon to work for the Rush City Police — every now and then you do something right, and Brandon is a good guy, and I’d like to make the motion that we appoint him as our chief deputy,” Commissioner Mike Robinson said, noting that he wanted to thank Worden for his years of service to the county.

Future plans for Worden

Until recently, Worden said he and the sheriff had a good relationship and there was no building animosity between the two of them. Prior to his five years with the county, Worden worked for seven years with the Forest Lake Police Department. When Duncan was first elected sheriff in 2010, he asked Worden to be his chief deputy.

Worden said he wasn’t planning on leaving the Sheriff’s Office, so he currently doesn’t have other employment lined up.

“It’s job seeking — I’d like to stay in law enforcement, if I can, but cops aren’t hired in two weeks,” Worden said. “I’ll do what I have to do to try to stay in this field. If I can’t, I’ll find another job. I have a mortgage to pay, I have to put food on the table, and I have a son who is going to attend college in the fall. I was completely blindsided by all of this. It was out of the blue for me.”

The Forest Lake Police Department has been investigating multiple burglaries in the city over the past few weeks.

Gun burglary

On Jan. 13, a resident of an apartment in the 500 block of Fourth Street Southwest reported that someone had broken into his residence in the previous few days and stole $2,000 in cash along with a handgun and two loaded magazines. Police told the media that after an investigation, officers arrested a 16-year-old boy for first-degree burglary. The department has released few details about the specifics of the case because the investigation involved talking to several juveniles. The money and gun were recovered, along with a license plate that had been stolen from a vehicle in Wyoming.

Realty break-in

Police began investigating a break-in at Edina Realty at 555 Broadway Ave. on Jan. 18 after a worker discovered that the business had been broken into over the weekend. A person or persons appeared to have drilled a lock to gain access to the building, and a bag of about $100 in coins was stolen. The case is still under investigation.

Pizza Man break-in

A worker at Pizza Man reported a burglary Jan. 24 at the business, though nothing appeared to have been stolen. According to police, security footage shows two people prying a door to the business (in the same building as Edina Realty) and rifling through items in the building, including the cash register. Though the cash register was damaged, nothing was stolen. The suspects are white males wearing jeans and dark hooded jackets. One was wearing gloves, and the other was wearing a dark belt.

Forest Lake firefighters received mutual aid from fire departments in Wyoming, Scandia and Hugo today when a call of a house fire at 7445 213^th Street Court came in around mid-day.

Firefighters are still on the scene and are believed to have arrived around noon. When the Forest Lake Times was on the scene, smoke and a few flames could be seen coming from the roof of the building. The roof also had a hole in it. At least eight fire trucks responded to the fire.

According to police, no injuries are believed to have occurred in the fire at this time. The owners were not home when the fire began. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Forest Lake police interrupted a burglary in progress around 3:20 p.m. Feb. 4.

According to police reports, officers responded to a call that a man and a woman had been seen breaking into the back door of a home on the 800 block of 12th Street Southwest. One officer came to the front of the residence and knocked on the door, and another officer stopped the duo as they tried to leave through the back door. The officers arrested Donald Nicholas Garcia, 32, and Nicole Leigh Garcia, 33, both of Hugo. Upon a search of the alleged burglars and the surrounding area, officers allegedly found a bag of medication and some documents that had been stolen from the residence.

Stolen car fire

A day earlier, police arrested three men after an unusual call around 8:20 p.m.

According to police reports, on Feb. 4, officers responded to a report of a car fire near the intersection of Centennial Drive Southwest and 11th Avenue. Upon arrival, they observed six men who were trying to put the fire out by dumping snow on the vehicle’s engine. Three of the men were not with the vehicle, but the other three said they were with the car and that a driver had also been there but had left the scene. When police ran the car’s information in their database, however, they discovered it was stolen, and the three men were taken into custody for questioning. Police are still investigating the men’s connection to the car; no one has been charged in the case.