Four people were charged recently in connection with an alleged LSD sale in Forest Lake.

According to court records, the Washington County Drug Task Force arrested three adults and a juvenile after a drug buy with a confidential informant April 7 in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Nicholaus John Collins, 20, of Coon Rapids, was charged with second-degree drug sale in connection with the incident. Samantha Yang, 23, of Coon Rapids, and Christian Michael Chavarria, 20, and a 15-year-old boy, both of Fridley, were charged with aiding and abetting a second-degree drug sale.

Task force officers allegedly learned that day that Collins was willing to sell an informant 100 doses of lysergic acid diethylamide, the psychedelic drug commonly known as LSD. That evening, the informant and a task force member were reportedly contacted by Collins, who told them he was waiting for them in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The duo entered Collins’ car, allegedly exchanging about $780 in cash for an aluminum foil package containing the drugs. The car also allegedly contained the other people charged in connection with the crime; court records state that the youth and Chavarria also offered to sell the informant the drug ecstasy. The informant and officer then left the car, and the remaining people in the vehicle were arrested on a traffic stop shortly thereafter. The Forest Lake Police Department reported that about $1,200 in cash was recovered during the arrest.

On May 6, Forest Lake firefighters and police responded to an SUV on fire in the 21400 block of Forest Road. The fire was contained to the vehicle, but emergency personnel believed the fire had started under suspicious circumstances (specific information on the fire has not yet been released). The Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted and assisted with the investigation. At this time, fire and law enforcement officials believe the cause of the fire to be arson and are asking for the public’s assistance. Up to a $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to the identification of those responsible for the fire. Members of the public who may have information about the fire are encouraged to call the arson hotline at 1-800-723-2020.

In the eight months since he’s been named the permanent fire chief of the Forest Lake Fire Department, Alan Newman has kept busy. Between fighting fires, attending meetings and pushing for a progressive department, he’s been methodically researching a topic that affects the bottom lines of property owners all around Forest Lake and Columbus: the department’s Insurance Services Office rating.

If the department can lower the ISO ratings for properties in the two cities, it could potentially save residents hundreds of dollars annually in insurance costs.

The Insurance Service Office is an organization that determines risk, allowing insurance companies to use their rankings to determine insurance rates. Properties are given ISO ratings of 1 through 10, with 1 being the best, based on the estimated ability of a fire department to fight a structure fire at that property (though even a property with a high rating can be successfully saved by a department).

Currently, structures within 5 miles of the fire hall in Forest Lake have a rating of 5, while buildings within the same distance of the fire hall in Columbus have a rating of 6. In both cities, structures between 5 and 7 miles away have a rating of 10 with water access, while those more than seven miles away have a rating of 10.

In recent years, said Newman, the department has started fielding calls from residents wondering why their ISO rating is causing their insurance rates to rise. The primary reason, according to Newman, is that some insurers are now including ISO in rate adjustments after years of not doing so.

“When the recession hit, (insurance) rates were already low, but because nobody had any money, the insurance company didn’t want to raise rates,” Newman said, noting that companies didn’t want people in dire financial straits not paying their premiums or dropping insurance altogether.

Now that the economy has stabilized, he said, companies are beginning to include ISO in their premium calculations.

“Insurance companies are getting wise that that’s a revenue stream they haven’t focused on in the past,” he explained, adding that even though the department hasn’t made changes lately that would negatively impact local ISO ratings, actuarial adjustments in ratings calculations have also caused some properties’ ISOs to rise.

And so residents call Newman’s office, confused and upset.

“Their premium could go up 30 to 100 percent,” he said.

ISO is graded on a 105.5-point scale that accounts for a variety of factors in a department’s ability to fight structure fires. Some of those factors, like distance from a fire station, are fixed for the foreseeable future, but Newman is optimistic that there are improvements to be found that could increase the department’s score and lower local ratings.

“We’re going to review all the different things that will impact ISO, and we’re going to prioritize those based on (funding) and based on expense and based on time commitment,” he said, adding that the department will focus on items “that have a big impact at a low expense over a short amount of time.”

For example, water supply issues make up roughly 40 percent of a property’s ISO rating. Part of a city’s water supply score comes from items like the number of fire hydrants or water towers in close proximity to a property – a potentially expensive improvement in the less developed parts of Forest Lake. But other elements of the score include the number and capacity of a department’s tanker trucks, how often they are tested and how much hose length is available to firefighters during a call, as well as making sure that all of those elements are properly documented. By striving toward best practices in those areas, Newman said, the fire department could potentially shave down its ISO ratings while also making the community safer.

“By doing those things, you’re doing the right things; you’re increasing your success that you’ll be able to put out a structure fire,” he said.

That process may take awhile, as Newman wants to take a considered look at every way the department could reduce ISO. That look will likely involve lots of research and time dedicated to achieving best practices, as well as cooperation between city departments.

“It’s going to involve meeting with public works and finding out how they document and test and stuff like that,” the chief said.

Though he could make no promises of a concrete ISO drop, Newman is hopeful that improving department efficiencies could make a big difference for property owners in both cities served by the department – potentially one that is bigger than any annual property tax cut or increase that an owner might see.

“Whatever I can do to reduce people’s costs is a benefit,” he said.

Typically, the Insurance Service Office reinspects a department every 10 years. Forest Lake was last inspected in 2012, but Newman noted that the department has the ability to be re-evaluated sooner because of its move to the updated fire hall portion of the Forest Lake City Center in late 2014.

“You can request an inspection if any part of your system has significantly changed,” he explained.

However, Newman won’t rush to make that request. Over the next year or two, he plans to take a hard look at how the department can improve its ISO and work with his fellow firefighters to get all of their ducks in a row before another inspection.

“We just want to get those best practices in place before we do it,” he said.

Forest Lake Elementary School students and staff were evacuated in the early afternoon of May 23 after the school received a bomb threat around 12:15 p.m. Forest Lake police quickly responded to the school to investigate the claim made by an anonymous caller, but no threatening materials were found and the school was cleared as safe around 2 p.m.

Police confirmed that the call was about a bomb threat at the school, but could not confirm if the threat was related to a spike in bomb threats reported Monday around the country and potentially internationally.

People inside of Forest Lake Elementary were ultimately transferred to the nearby Forest View Elementary, which was placed on containment along with fellow Forest Lake Elementary neighbor the Central Learning Center. Students finished the day at Forest View finished the day normally before being sent home at the regular time.

Alicia Lebens
Stillwater Gazette

It’s a topic nobody wants to talk about. It brings up emotions of anger, confusion and disbelief. It happens in “good neighborhoods” and in “quiet suburbs.” The Washington County Attorney’s Office major crimes prosecutor Imran Ali and his team can’t deny the mountains of data: the demand for and the sale of sexual contact with juveniles has rapidly increased in the Twin Cities metro area, and more and more local youth are becoming victims of sex trafficking.

“There is no doubt that this problem takes on many forms,” Ali said.

While the vast majority of victims exploited by sex trafficking are young women and girls, niche markets have emerged that cater to specific demographics that include LGBT victims and victims by races and ethnicity.

On April 28, a 55-year-old Wisconsin man was arrested on felony prostitution charges after he allegedly agreed to pay a 15-year-old boy $200 to have sex with him at a Stillwater hotel. While Ali said he cannot talk about the specific case, he has seen other cases that involve LGBT victims.

“The large majority of victims are girls but we are seeing social media apps and other Internet sites that are specific to boys and — while not so much in Washington County — with a cultural sensitivity,” Ali said. “This is an issue that affects boys and girls, all races and walks of life.”

Thanks to a grant the Washington County Attorney’s Office is using to fund the special unit, Ali works with a criminal analyst to go through Internet ads and websites to track online solicitations, gather data for law enforcement and to look for trends that better inform Ali and his team.

“In the first quarter of 2016, we have found 15,742 solicitation ads,” criminal analyst Aimee Schroeder said.

All of the solicitation ads came from a website called Backpage.com, a site widely used by those looking to buy and sell sexual contact. What Schroeder and Ali found is that the sale of sexual contact follows patterns similar to other commercial products.

“Just like commercially available products, sex is sold in the same pattern — sales increase on weekends, holidays and when there is nice weather outside,” Ali said.

This information can be used by law enforcement to understand patterns and can be studied for future events and operations.

“One thing we are interested to see is what will happen at a big event like the Super Bowl in 2018,” Ali said.

Identification and prevention

One of the biggest hurdles Ali has found is getting information out to parents and community members that sex trafficking is a problem in Washington County and that solicitation of a sex trafficking victim is different than how it took place before the Internet.

“It’s happening here and that is difficult to understand,” Ali said.

Ali recently made presentations to community groups and parents in order to raise awareness of the problem.

During the first quarter analysis completed by Schroeder, data was gathered from one website. But Ali said many interactions — either the sale of sexual contact or exploiters finding victims — also take place on social media and smart phone apps.

“The best way for parents or community members to stay informed is to do what I do — do research online,” Ali said. “It seems like there is a new app every week, and I go online to find out what it is and how it is used.”

Another way to keep children safe is to engage in conversations about what apps are installed on smart phones.

“Ask what each app is and what it is used for,” Ali said.

Social media and messaging can be a first step for exploiters to contact potential victims, and the first interactions don’t always appear threatening. Ali called the step “grooming,” and it’s when a victim is first befriended and an emotional connection is formed that will lure a victim into a situation where he or she is abused or trafficked.

“One of the biggest things I include in my trainings (for parents and community members) are to first be aware, ask, then act,” Ali said.

Ali said that if parents or friends feel something isn’t right, they should ask and then follow up on the conversation again.

“If you have to act but don’t want to have your name included, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office has an anonymous tipline,” Ali said.

The Washington County Sherrif’s Office tipline is 651-430-7825, and it’s continuously monitored.

It was approximately 1:19 a.m. in the early morning hours of May 26 when a white male with a two-toned snapback hat, a bandana, an h-shaped belt buckle, a bracelet, black shoes and no apparent socks, walked into the Columbus Holiday convenience store at 9444 Lake Drive brandishing a black handgun. He demanded cash from the teller and ultimately walked away with hundreds of dollars.

The incident was caught on the store security camera and that fact prompted the Anoka County Sheriffs Office to, for the first time, release video footage of a crime via their Facebook and Twitter pages with a request for viewers to like and share it. The posting of the video (found here: goo.gl/iRVqGy) had the intended effect as the video has been shared 1,640 times and viewed 28,200 times.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office at 763-427-1212.

A Stillwater man faces criminal charges after allegedly vandalizing a home and causing more than $150,000 in damage.

According to court records, Matthew Thomas Sonnen, 27, was recently charged with first-degree property damage. On April 25, he allegedly visited the Forest Lake Police Department’s office to confess that he had been staying in a rented home on Harrow Avenue North and that he and some friends had started “demoing” the house around 1 a.m. the day before. Sonnen said he and his friends (whom he did not name) has been drunk when they were damaging the house, knocking out every window and breaking several doors, counter tops, and cabinets – and tearing off the deck behind the house.

Police spoke to the property’s owner, who stated that he had not given Sonnen permission to damage the house and added that he and Sonnen had been having a rent issue. The landlord said he had planned to ask Sonnen to move out.

An officer visited the house and allegedly confirmed Sonnen’s reports of damage; he believed the home to be uninhabitable (the criminal complaint for Sonnen described the home as “completely torn apart”). A real estate agent visited the property and reported that more than $150,000 in damage had been caused, adding that the house may be a total loss.

Drug busts

The Washington County Drug Task Force recently arrested three people and obtained a warrant for one more related to two drug cases in Forest Lake. One investigation started in November 2015, when officers began looking into Nathan Daniel Saxton, 19, of Forest Lake, who was suspected of selling significant amounts of cocaine in Forest Lake. The task force set up a meet with Saxton, an undercover officer and a confidential informant that month, at which time Saxton allegedly sold the informant a quarter ounce of cocaine. Saxton was allegedly driven to the buy by Tyler Duane Shelton, 19, also of Forest Lake.

In December, the informant and officer set up another buy with Saxton, at which time Shelton allegedly drove him again. In April of this year, Shelton was arrested for aiding and abetting the first-degree sale of a controlled substance, and a warrant was issued for Saxton’s arrest.

The second drug bust took place on May 17 at a residence in the 800 block of 12th Street Southwest, after an undercover officer bought 50 Adderal pills allegedly sold to him by Patricia Lenore Howe, 46, of Forest Lake. During the buy, Howe was allegedly accompanied by Tyler James Anderson, 23, of Forest Lake, who law enforcement said counted out the pills for Howe. Officers executed a search warrant on the residence shortly after the buy and arrested Howe. They later found Anderson at the Forest Lake Wal-Mart and arrested him as well. Both were charged with second-degree sale of a controlled substance.

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

• Valerie Lorraine Dahl, 41, of Blaine, was sentenced March 23 for theft in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Andrew Loren David Cedarblade, 21, of Cambridge, was charged March 28 with a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Chase Aaron Peterson, 22, of Forest Lake, was charged March 29 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Touashelue Vue, 21, of St. Paul, was sentenced March 30 for receiving stolen property in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Brandon Lawrence Gunderson, 21, of Forest Lake, was charged March 30 with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
• Christiana Maria Mcnair, 30, of St. Paul, was sentenced April 6 for a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Brian Keith Eischeid, 46, of White Bear Lake, was sentenced April 8 for theft in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Hsaw De, 18, of Maplewood, was charged April 11 with a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Paige Louise Biljan, 23, of Wyoming, was sentenced April 14 for third-degree drug sale.
• Joshua Scott Moe, 27, of Forest Lake, was sentenced April 15 for domestic assault by strangulation.
• Brian Keith Hennen, 51, of Scandia, was sentenced April 15 for a firearms violation.
• Paige Louise Biljan 23, of Stacy, was charged April 19 with violating a restraining order.
• Robert Joseph Tew, 34, of Burnsville, was charged April 26 with a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Sarah Jean Toupal, 24, of Ham Lake, was sentenced April 29 for assault and DWI in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Lawrence Dwayne Vernardo, 39, of Minneapolis, was charged April 29 with a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Jennifer Julie Olson, 26, of Forest Lake, was sentenced May 2 for child endangerment.
• Stephen Thomas Paul, 56, of Forest Lake, was sentenced May 4 for a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Lloyd David Belmore, 28, of Ham Lake, was charged May 6 with a fifth-degree drug crime and aiding or abetting theft in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Jorge Rafael Blank Ferreria, 25, of Forest Lake, was charged May 11 with a fifth-degree drug crime and theft.
• Travis Lee Iler, 23, of New Hope, was sentenced May 12 for a fifth-degree drug crime in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Marlow Louis Geyer III, 36, of Forest Lake, was charged May 12 with violating the terms of his registration as a predatory offender.
• Nicholas Eugene Anderson, 21, of Stacy, was charged May 12 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Richard Robert Wemyess, 46, current residence unknown, was charged May 18 with a fifth-degree drug crime and misdemeanor domestic assault in connection with a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.

A car crash on southbound Interstate Highway 35 in Forest Lake, just south of the 11^th Avenue bridge, backed up traffic almost to the U.S. Highway 8 bridge in the late afternoon on June 11. Currently, the number of vehicles involved and the extent of any injuries is unknown, though at least two helicopters were seen responding to the scene. A number of emergency vehicles also responded to the crash site.

*UPDATE*
According to a report released by the Minnesota State Patrol, the incident involved one vehicle, a 2004 Yamaha Road-Street motorcycle. The report states that the motorcycle was traveling southbound on Interstate Highway 35 at mileposts 131 when the back tire began to wobble and the bike went down and rolled. Both parties were airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries. An MSP update posted at 1:09 a.m. Sunday stated that the motorcycle passenger had died from injuries sustained in the crash.

*SECOND UPDATE*

The driver of the motorcycle was Michael Burwell, 68, Shoreview. He sustained serious injury. The passenger was Lynn Burwell, 61, Shoreview. She died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.

Forest Lake police were called to a hit-and-run crash that left a cyclist with injuries to his chest and face June 8.

According to police, a 28-year-old Forest Lake man was using his bike to cross Centennial Drive Southwest near Sixth Avenue Southwest when a dark blue four-door sedan took a turn onto the road and hit him. He did not have any other information.

The man had a cut on his chin that the responding officer believed needed stitches as well as several abrasions to his chest. He declined a transportation to the hospital.

Music equipment stolen

Thousands of dollars in music equipment was reported stolen from a Forest Lake storage unit June 12. According to police, the storage unit was located Forest Lake Mini Storage on 15th Street Southwest. The tenant of the storage unit had not visited the unit in about a month and arrived to his unit in the midmorning to find that a different lock was on the structure than the one he’d previously used. He cut open the lock and found that a mixing board, microphones, stands and speakers worth between $3,000 to $4,000 had been taken. He provided the police with a list of the stolen material.

An 86-year-old Marine on St. Croix man is dead after a two-vehicle crash in May Township on the afternoon of June 20, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Donald Louis Goral was pronounced dead on the scene after a collision with a dump truck.

On Monday, June 20, at 1:51 p.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies, the Scandia Fire Department, Lakeview EMS and the Forest Lake Police Department were dispatched to a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Manning Trail North and 170th Street North. Upon arrival, crews found an SUV and a dump truck had collided, possibly in a T-bone crash.

It was determined that each vehicle had a single occupant. Goral, who was driving an SUV, was pronounced dead at the scene. The dump truck’s driver — Nicholos Ansel Pack, 38, of Baldwin, Wis. — was evaluated and released on scene.

The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting with the ongoing investigation and accident reconstruction. Authorities do not suspect criminal activity was involved.

A Forest Lake Area High School student was killed in a collision with a car June 27 as she walking near the school.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Catherine Loahr, 18, of Forest Lake, was walking north on Goodview Avenue at the intersection with State Highway 97. She was struck shortly after 1 p.m. by a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Joyce Palme, 65, of Forest Lake, who was driving south on Goodview. Palme, who was not injured, turned from Goodview onto 97 and hit Loahr, who was crossing the highway at the time.

The student’s name, as released by the State Patrol, was listed as Catherine, but it appears on social media that she went by “Kat” or “Katya.” Her father, Steven Loahr, referred to her as Katya in a message on social media regarding her death, saying that her entire family was mourning her.

In a release to families and the media the day of the crash, the Forest Lake Area Schools confirmed that Loahr, who was not named in the release, was a female high school student enrolled in summer school at the district (the Forest Lake Area High School and Century Junior High School are near the site of the crash). The release expressed sympathy for the student’s family and noted that some other students may have witnessed the collision. The district offered counseling services to anyone who needed them, noting that they could call the district’s Mobile Crisis Team at 651-777-5222 and select option three. Additional staff and counselors were available at Century Junior High to help support students.

At the Forest Lake City Council meeting the evening of the crash, the council held a moment of silence in Loahr’s memory, and Mayor Stev Stegner expressed his sympathies for those grieving her loss.

The crash is still under investigation.

A man was airlifted from the scene of a car crash the morning of June 29 after his vehicle hit a tree off the side of Kettle River Boulevard in Columbus.

According to the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, the crash was discovered around 5:30 a.m. A vehicle with one occupant had gone off the side of the road and struck a tree near the intersection of Kettle River Boulevard and 181^st Avenue. Forest Lake firefighters completed a minor extrication of the man, and he was taken from the scene by helicopter. The driver’s name, what hospital he was taken to, the kind of vehicle he was driving and the extent of his injuries have not yet been released.

The sheriff’s office reported that the man may have crashed his vehicle much earlier in the morning, only being noticed when the sun started to come up. Currently, alcohol is not thought to be a factor in the crash, but the incident is still under investigation.

The Forest Lake Times will post more information as it becomes available.

The pilot of a small plane received minor injuries July 1 when his single-engine plane crashed on southbound Interstate Highway 35 in Wyoming.

The crash happened around 10 p.m. near the Viking Boulevard bridge. Traffic was closed for roughly two hours as the plane was towed and the scene investigated. No one else was hurt in the incident.

The Minnesota State Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Members of the Forest Lake Fire Department congregated with trainers from Century College in the back parking lot of the Forest Lake City Center June 21 to train in fighting a fire in and on a propane tank. To keep firefighters from overheating, a group of men and women must approach a burning propane tank in a specific formation, taking coordinated steps and changing the spray of their hoses as they approach the flames.

A man was hospitalized after falling several feet out of a tree shortly before 1 p.m. July 14 in the 9200 block of 227th Street Court North in Forest Lake.

The man’s name has not been released, though he is from Hector and in his mid-40s. According to the Forest Lake Police Department, the man, who may have been involved in a tree service company, fell roughly 30 feet, and when emergency personnel were called, he was unconscious and gurgling. By the time personnel arrived, the man had regained consciousness, and a requested airlift was cancelled.

The man was disoriented, suggesting a possible concussion, and he had abrasions and contusions to the left side of his head and collar. He was taken by ambulance to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale.

Forest Lake police, Minnesota State Patrol officers and Forest Lake firefighters responded to the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau and the old Forest Lake City Hall on North Lake Street around 12:30 p.m. July 15 after a traffic accident led to a pickup truck careening through LAYSB’s front lawn and hitting the side of the old city hall.

Law enforcement has not formally released the details of incident, but it appears that there was some sort of collision between a minivan and the pickup truck near the intersection of Lake Street and 3^rd Avenue Northwest. Following the collision, the pickup truck veered off the west side road and into the yard of LAYSB, hitting a birdbath, before running into the north wall of the city hall building.

The occupants of both vehicles did not appear to be seriously injured, but no word on their condition has yet been released. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

The Forest Lake City Council voted June 27 to continue an agreement that puts police officers in some Forest Lake Area Schools, but remarks from some council members indicated that renegotiations may be on the horizon.

The renewal of the city’s annual school resource officer agreement with the school district originally came up on the council’s June 13 agenda, but council members tabled it to their June 20 work session for more discussion (the School Board approved the same agreement at their June 23 meeting).

Councilman Michael Freer was dissatisfied with the lack of administrative cost contributions in the contract, in which the district pays the city $285,480 in the coming school year and $292,126 the following year for the placement of one police officer each in Forest Lake Area High School, Century Junior High School and Southwest Junior High School – the officers also respond to Forest Lake elementary schools if incidents arise and the school where they are regularly posted is uneventful. The high school officer is posted to the school year-round, while the other officers are posted during the nine-month school year.

On June 20, Freer expounded on his comments, stating that his concerns about the cost structure are not a commentary on the quality or usefulness of the SRO program.

“This has nothing to do with the officers – literally zero – and getting rid of the SRO program is not even on my radar,” he said. “It has everything to do with the city of Forest Lake constantly being asked to fund extra costs that other communities around here that are part of the Forest Lake School District do not have to fund.”

Since the school district pays for the SRO program, taxpayers from all around the district – including residents from Forest Lake, Columbus, Lino Lakes, Linwood, Scandia and Wyoming – shoulder some of the costs for the services included in the contract costs. However, Freer’s point was that the costs for administering the program – time spent by city staff like SRO supervising Sgt. Mark Richert, Chief of Public Safety Rick Peterson and City Administrator Aaron Parrish – are paid for by the city alone. When cases that are handled by a resource officer are prosecuted, Forest Lake bears those costs as well, because the crimes occurred within the city.

Richert, Peterson and Capt. Greg Weiss all spoke about the benefits of the program, including building trust between police and students, preventing crime and disruptions before they can happen and training for potentially dangerous scenarios that could occur on school property. Richert said the element of trust between FLAS kids and the officers is phenomenal and has led to students letting police know about potentially violent or illegal actions that another student may take, allowing police to diffuse the situation before it escalates. Richert said that when comparing other police departments’ relationship to their local schools with Forest Lakes, many other departments simply can’t reach the same level of student-officer rapport.

“Our officers are really used as that gold standard,” he said.

Peterson researched comparisons between Forest Lake’s SRO contract and those of other Minnesota cities with similar agreements. For the time officers spend at the Forest Lake Area Schools, the district reimburses their wages 100 percent. The district also pays $9,000 in reimbursements for three police vehicles for the officers. In comparing Forest Lake against 15 other districts with similar agreements, Peterson found only two (Rochester and St. Cloud) that contributed to administration costs and none that contributed to vehicle reimbursement. When it came to breaking down how much the districts were reimbursing for officer wages and benefits, it became a little less clear, as some districts provided a monetary value while others provided a percentage of wages and benefits. Further complicating matters was the fact that some of the districts’ school resource officers only spend part of their time at the schools, along with the consideration that Forest Lake is the only district of those compared that keeps at least one officer in the SRO program year-round.

For example, the Rochester School District has four officers in its SRO program and also reimburses its local police department for some administrative costs. However, the program is only active during the school year, and despite the program’s higher number of officers, the district only reimburses the department $260,000 – less than FLAS reimburses Forest Lake for fewer officers and no administrative costs. Despite the difficulties in direct comparison, Peterson and the other officers said the local contract with FLAS is a favorable one when stacked against other communities.

“We are by far really more funded than our comparables,” Richert said. He added that addressing issues at the schools would fall under his regular duties as a patrol sergeant with or without the SRO program.

Freer acknowledged the program’s effectiveness but said that because residents of other communities, as well as the district itself, benefit from the program and the time spent on it, Forest Lake shouldn’t be the only entity paying for the time spent managing it.

On June 27, the council approved the contract on a 4-1 vote, with Freer casting the vote against. He reiterated that he was in favor of the program, but not the current terms of the contract.
Councilman Ben Winnick said that Freer raised some good points that would be worth considering in future contracts, and he asked city staff to give the council more lead time on similar contracts so members could review the terms (to continue the program uninterrupted, the council needed to approve the contract in June). However, Winnick said it wouldn’t be right to stop the program so late in the approval process.

“I really don’t think we should penalize the school,” he said. “I don’t think we should stop something right now. It’s too far down the road in negotiations.”

When the Forest Lake Area School Board approved the contract on June 23, members did not discuss the administrative costs. Instead, they and Superintendent Linda Madsen praised the effectiveness of the program, which has been in place at the district for 22 years. Madsen said the relationship between the district and the department was on display May 23 when the two entities cooperated quickly and easily when Forest Lake Elementary School received a bomb threat.

“We appreciate the partnership we have with the Police Department and those resource officers,” she said.

Board Member Karen Morehead attended the City Council’s meeting on June 13. She said she believed the contract is fine the way it is because both the city and the district are receiving a benefit, though she added that re-examining the agreement in the future isn’t unreasonable.

“I think (the current agreement) is fine, but I think every time a contract comes up, you want to make sure that it’s benefiting all parties,” she said.

Though the council and board have had some disagreements over the last couple of years, Morehead said she was pleased that the two entities have continued to work together on the SRO program, adding that she was “very, very happy” that the agreement passed.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the Washington County Public Health and Environment will be participating in a voluntary prescription drug take-back campaign on July 30. The office staff will be collecting potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Newport Plaza, at 1644 Hastings Avenue, Newport. The site will be located in the main parking lot with easy drive-through access. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Medicines left in homes are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, theft, and abuse. Prescription drug abuse in the United States is increasing, as are the number of accidental positioning and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. Improperly disposing unused medicine; e.g., flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, are both potential safety and health hazards.

A Brooklyn Park man whose robbery of the Forest Lake Perkins was foiled by local residents was charged in Washington County Court earlier this month.

Douglas Lamont Gatlin Jr., 25, was charged July 5 with one count each of simple robbery, receiving stolen property, first-degree criminal damage to property and obstructing the legal process. He was arrested after Perkins diners tackled him to the ground after he allegedly took money from the business’s cash register.

According to court records, when police arrived, Gatlin was attempting to fight off the people who were holding him on the ground. Officers attempted to handcuff Gatlin, but he allegedly tried to pinch, push and kick officers, and once the handcuffs were in place, he refused to walk. Ultimately, several officers were needed to carry Gatlin to a squad car as he continued to resist. His attempts to get free included allegedly kicking a large dent in a squad car door.

Witnesses told police that they had seen Gatlin walk into the restaurant, go behind the till and grab cash out of a cash register (police reportedly found about $400 in Gatlin’s pockets). When he tried to flee, Gatlin was subdued by customers and employees.

Police ran the plates on Gatlin’s vehicle and allegedly learned that it had been stolen from Brooklyn Park. There were some golf clubs in the car, and based on evidence in the surrounding area, police suspected that Gatlin had used one of the clubs to bash in three windows of vehicles in the Perkins parking lot as well as a vehicle parked at the Forest Lake Wal-Mart.

Threats

A Forest Lake man has been charged with making terroristic threats after he allegedly said he would leave dead bodies at the Buddhist temple in the city if the temple didn’t keep the noise down during a festival.

According to court records, James Paul Miller, 48, allegedly visited the Lao Temple and Vipassana Center June 24, during a preparation time for an annual festival held at the temple. Miller allegedly told a woman who was helping set up for the festival that he lived near the temple, which is located behind Cub Foods, and he did not want to hear loud music coming from the temple during the festival. He said the music should be turned down or stopped completely.

The woman reportedly told Miller that the temple had a city permit to play music and hear speakers over a loudspeaker system. At that point, Miller allegedly became upset, telling the woman that if the temple attendees weren’t careful, he would “level the place” and that should he do so, “there will be a lot of dead bodies.” Then, he drove away.

Police located Miller, who allegedly admitted to making the threats, comparing the noise from the temple to him firing a gun from his backyard.

The following are other recent Washington County court cases related to the Forest Lake area:
• Thomas Jacob McGovern, 19, of Stacy, was charged May 25 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
• J.C. Joseph Pechaver, 34, of Forest Lake, was sentenced June 1 for a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Damian Thomas Lauth, 31, of Stacy, was charged June 1 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Joshua Kyle Olson, 35, of Fridley, was sentenced June 6 for fleeing in a motor vehicle related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Nicholas Thomas Lopez, 30, of St. Paul, was charged June 6 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• David Joseph Andrle, 32, of Forest Lake, was sentenced June 8 for a predatory offender violation.
• Michael Howard Ogary, 18, of Hugo, was charged June 14 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Andrew Matthew Kuehn, 18, of Stillwater, was charged June 14 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Lloyd David Belmore, 28, of Ham Lake, was charged June 20 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Dirk Anthony Hummel, of Forest Lake, was charged June 20 with a fifth-degree drug crime.
• Cody Melvin Clark, 21, of Stockholm, South Dakota, was charged June 21 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Michael Allen Johnson, 24, of White Bear Lake, was charged June 23 with a fifth-degree drug crime and possession of a dangerous weapon related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Jacob Ronald Lewis, 29, of Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, was charged June 29 with a fifth-degree drug crime related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Nicholas Robert Ecker, 29, of Stacy, was charged June 29 with DWI.
• Richard Robert Wemyess, 46, address unknown, was charged June 30 with being a predatory offender who knowingly violates his registration requirements related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.
• Thomas James Vigness, 29, of St. Anthony, was charged July 1 with theft related to a case investigated by the Forest Lake Police Department.

The Forest Lake man who killed his girlfriend and stayed in his apartment with her body for three days in 2015 was sentenced Aug. 5 to 30 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year.

Lauren Mason Grove Lynch, 28, was arrested Sept. 11, 2015 after a neighbor reported a foul smell coming from his apartment in 956 12^th St. SW. Court records state that police arrived and found the body of Lynch’s girlfriend, Grace Ann Vannorman, 36, on a couch. Lynch later told police that following an argument with Vannorman, he’d smothered her with a pillow and stabbed her in the neck on Sept. 8 (her cause of death was later confirmed to be asphyxiation). Lynch had stayed with Vannorman’s body after the murder; her decomposition was later determined to be the source of the smell reported by a neighbor.

In addition to his prison time, 330 days of which has already been served, Lynch must pay a $500 fine and more than $8,300 in restitution.