Crime

Cloquet man Sentenced to 86 Months for First Degree Assault on Infant

CLOQUET, Minn. – A Cloquet father has been convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to 86 months in prison, after being accused of abusing his three-month old infant. St. Lukes Hospital reported to authorities in December that a three-month old infant had presented with injuries consistent with child abuse. According to reports the infant had a skull fracture, fractured arm…

Update: Driver in Fatal hit-and-run Crash Charged With Vehicular Homicide

DULUTH, Minn. – A 30-year-old Duluth man has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide in connection to the fatal hit-and-run crash in West Duluth on Tuesday. According to court records, Stanley Brown admitted during an interview with police to being the driver of the Jeep at the time it struck the motorcycle. Brown told authorities he had been drinking prior…

Suspect in Fatal Park Point Attack Pleads Guilty

Sentencing is Scheduled for June 17

Darrel Mayhew DULUTH, Minn. – A Duluth man accused of burglarizing, robbing and killing 70-year-old Park Point Larry Watczak in January pleaded guilty Thursday morning to second-degree murder without intent. Larry Watczak According to court records, charges of first-degree aggravated robbery and first-degree burglary were dropped in a plea agreement against 30-year-old Darrel Mayhew. Mayhew is accused of violently attacking…

Former Caregiver Gets 6 Months for Abuse of Resident

ELK RIVER, Minn. (AP) – A man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a resident of a St. Cloud senior living facility has been sentenced to nearly six months in jail and faces deportation. Jesus Manzanilla Alvarado of Big Lake was sentenced earlier this month in Sherburne County. The 23-year-old Alvarado pleaded guilty May 1 to criminal sexual abuse of…

Minnesota boy Left in car for Hours, Dies; Father Charged

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A 4-year-old boy has died after authorities say his father left him in a hot sport utility vehicle for hours while he worked at an event in St. Paul. The father, 26-year-old Kristopher Taylor of Apple Valley, is charged with second-degree manslaughter. The boy died Saturday. Authorities say Taylor left the child in the vehicle…

Judge Rules Murder Suspect Cannot Have Mental Illness Defense

Sentencing is Scheduled for June 13

HIBBING, Minn. – A sixth district judge has ruled that a Grand Rapids man convicted of murder in the second-degree did not have mental illness or cognitive impairment to afford him a mental illness defense. Benjamin Lundquist was accused of stabbing and killing 54-year-old Joel Gangness of Hibbing in January of 2017 in an apartment there. Lundquist initially told police…

Duluth Police Investigating Possible Shooting in Lincoln Park Neighborhood

Police Continue to Investigate the Incident

DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Police Department says they are investigating a possible shooting that took place in the Lincoln Park neighborhood Tuesday evening. According to police, officers were dispatched to a local hospital just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday where a female patient said she had been shot leaving a residence in Lincoln Park. Officers were unable to determine if…

Two Injured After Shots Fired Into Crowded Minnesota Garage

Police say There is no Danger to the Public

AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) – Police in Minnesota are investigating who fired at least a dozen shots into a crowded garage where a family was playing dominoes and having a barbecue in Austin. Austin police say a 32-year-old woman and a 37-year-old woman suffered injuries on their legs, but their relatives say they are recovering. The Post-Bulletin reported that no one…

Suspect in Itasca County Bank Robbery Charged With Four Felonies

Bail has Been set at $400,000 Without Conditions

ITASCA COUNTY, Minn. – A 23-year-old homeless man accused of robbing the First National Bank of Coleraine Bank in La Prairie on Tuesday made his first appearance in District Court this morning. Court records show Connor David Johnson has been charged with two counts of First Degree Aggravated Robbery and two counts of Second Degree Assault with a Dangerous Weapon….

Man Attacks Woman With Machete, Turns Weapon on Himself

Both are Expected to Survive

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – A Brainerd man is accused of attacking a woman with a machete in St. Cloud before using the weapon on himself. Police say the man went to the woman’s apartment building to meet her Monday afternoon, pulled out a machete in the lobby and cut her in the shoulder and wrist. Authorities say the woman…

Complaint: Man Went to Mall of America Intending to Kill

(Bloomington Police Department) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with throwing a 5-year-old boy off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America told police he was angry at being rejected by women at the Minnesota mall and was “looking for someone to kill” when he went there last week, according to a criminal complaint Monday. Emmanuel Aranda, 24, of…

Agents Arrest 58 People in Twin Cities sex Trafficking Sting

28 Victims Were Rescued

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota authorities say nearly five dozen people are facing charges for sex trafficking following an undercover operation in several Twin Cities communities. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says 28 victims were rescued from sex trafficking situations, including one minor. The sting was conducted April 4-8. Undercover agents and investigators posed as minors or as…

Moose Lake DOC Employee Charged With Criminal Sexual Conduct With Inmate

MOOSE LAKE, Minn. – A female Department of Corrections employee corrections officer in Moose Lake has been formally charged with Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for engaging in the sexual exploitation of an inmate. According to the criminal complaint, Officer James Jungers of the Moose Lake Police Department was contacted by Investigator Gunderson of the MN Department of Corrections, Office…