Crime

Synthetic Drug Overdoses on Rise

No Known Way to Reverse Synthetic Marijuana Overdose

MINNEAPOLIS-Minnesota health officials say there’s been a spike in the number of overdoses from synthetic marijuana in Minneapolis. The Star Tribune reports that last week alone Minneapolis hospitals handled at least 60 cases related to the synthetic drug, which causes hallucinations and violent behavior in some users and leaves others comatose. Officials say none of the cases has been fatal….

Police Looking for Robbery Suspect Who Used Hatchet

If You See Him, Call 911

BIWABIK, Minn.-The St. Louis County Sherrif’s Office is looking for 32-year-old man who robbed the Lakeland Store in Biwabik Township last night, using a hatchet. Anthony Theodore Wagoner, of Crookston, has been identified as the suspect. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Police warn not to approach him. He came into the store at about 7:30 p.m. wearing a…

1 Arrested After Cars, Biwabik Post Office Damaged

BIWABIK, Minn. – The Gilbert Police Department has arrested a 21-year-old man after the Biwabik Post Office and vehicles in the neighborhood were damaged. As for the post office, police say several interior mailboxes were damaged. Officers determined mail was even stolen out of those mail boxes, according to the press release. Damage is estimated to add up to several…

Hecker Still in Prison

Hecker's Attorney Misspoke When She Said Hecker Had Been Released From the Federal Prison

MINNEAPOLIS-Former Minnesota auto dealer Denny Hecker remains in federal prison and is not in a halfway house as his attorney reported earlier this week. The federal Bureau of Prisons says Hecker’s attorney misspoke when she said Hecker had been released from the federal prison in Illinois and sent to a halfway house in Minneapolis. Hecker’s former bankruptcy attorney Barbara May…

35-Year Sentence for Killer in Fond du Lac Case

Murder Occured Dec. 23 on Reservation

CARLTON, Minn.-A 34-year-old man was sentenced today for killing another man Dec. 23 on the Fond du Lac Reservation. Wayne Bosto was sentenced to 35 1/2 years in prison for shooting and killing 36-year-old John Korby. In July, Bosto plead guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the crime. He had also been facing a charge of being a…

3 In Custody After Assault at Bemidji Convenience Store

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Just after 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 5, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the report of gunshots at 7189 Pete Lane NW near Highway 2 and Highway 89 at Pete’s Place West Convenience Store in Bemidji. Several agencies responded to the call including Beltrami County, Bemidji Police, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota BCA, Bureau of…

Auto Dealer Denny Hecker to be Released from Halfway House Today

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former Minnesota auto dealer will be released from a halfway house where he’s lived since serving most of a 10-year sentence in federal prison. The Pioneer Press reports that 65-year-old Denny Hecker will be released from the Minneapolis halfway house Thursday. Hecker filed for bankruptcy in June 2009, when he owed $767 million. He was sentenced…

Hibbing Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Felonies in Sexual Assault Case

Next Court Appearance is Scheduled for Nov. 30.

Travis TurkHIBBING, Minn.-A 28-year-old Hibbing man has plead guilty to two felonies in the sexual assault case of a 5-year-old girl. Travis Turk plead guilty to kidnapping and burglary in the first degree. Originally, he was facing four felony charges in the case, including criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. According to the complaint, the girl’s mother woke up around…

Duluth Vigil Held In Honor Of Those Killed In Vegas Massacre

Vigil Was Held At Peace United Church of Christ

DULUTH, Minn. – America and the Northland continue to mourn after one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history.  Dozens of Duluthians were invited Wednesday to Peace United Church of Christ to remember the lives lost in Las Vegas. People lit candles and emotions built up during prayer. Members of the church even read the names of dozens of victims…

Minnesota Man Sentenced to Jail in Revenge Porn Case

Michael Weigel ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – An eastern Minnesota man has been sentenced under a new state law that seeks to hold people accountable for revenge porn. The Pioneer Press reports that 39-year-old Michael Weigel was sentenced to four months in jail and three years of probation. He was convicted on one count of felony non-consensual dissemination of private…

FBI Interviewing Las Vegas Shooter’s Girlfriend

Undated photo of Marilou Danley from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. (AP) LAS VEGAS (AP) – A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that the Las Vegas shooter’s girlfriend is being questioned by FBI agents in Los Angeles. The official says Marilou Danley was being questioned Wednesday morning at the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles and…

Grand Portage Woman Arrested for Arson

Lori Dahmen (Cook County Sheriff’s Office) GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. – Authorities responded to the report of a structure fire on Townsite Road in Grand Portage at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, according to the Cook County Sheriff. Crews from Grand Portage and Hovland Fire Department joined Cook County Deputies in responding to the call. The fire destroyed the home, no…

Las Vegas Shooter’s Father had Ties to Superior

Lived in Superior After He Was Born in Wisconsin

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) – While investigators in Las Vegas work to find out what motivated a one-time accountant with no known criminal history to inflict so much pain in a mass shooting, others digging into his past know his father was a notorious bank robber with ties to Wisconsin. Stephen Paddock’s father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was born in Sheboygan in…

Minnesota Man Arrested for 28th DWI

TJ Nelson - KVRR

NEW YORK MILLS, Minn. (KVRR) – The man with the record for the most DWI convictions in Minnesota has been arrested again. It is the 28th DWI arrest for 64-year-old Danny Bettcher of rural New York Mills. An off-duty Deputy saw Dettcher drinking at the VFW before getting into his car. Another officer followed Bettcher on Highway 10 where he…

Duluthians Share First Hand Experience During Vegas Shooting

LAS VEGAS, NV- FOX 21 sat down with two Duluthians via Facebook messenger earlier this afternoon, who described first hand the horrible events from last night’s attack. 28-year-old Briana Hess and 32-year-old Jolene Luczak share their story. “It started again, da da da da da da da and Jason Aldean, he kind of hesitated and then he turned around and…

UPDATE: More than 50 Dead After Gunfire Rings Out at Las Vegas Music Festival

Officials Say the Gunman Killed Himself

LAS VEGAS – LAS VEGAS (AP) — A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 50 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S….

Wisconsin Girl Reaches Plea Deal in Slender Man Case

Morgan Geyser, one of two Wisconsin girls charged with stabbing a classmate to impress the fictitious horror character Slender Man, sits in a Waukesha County Courtroom for a status hearing Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via AP) WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — The second of two Wisconsin girls charged with repeatedly stabbing a classmate to impress horror character Slender…

Counterfeit Barbies Seized at US-Canada Border

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (KMSP) – Border patrol officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Barbie dolls at the United States-Canada border in International Falls, Minnesota last month. The dolls, piratical copies of Mattel’s CEO Barbie, were found in a rail container headed for the point-of-entry in Ranier, Minnesota in August. The counterfeit merchandise had a suggested…

Heroin Dealer Sentenced in 2 Deaths, Faces Charges in 3 More

Beverly Burrell MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Twin Cities heroin dealer has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for the overdose deaths of two men and still faces murder charges in the drugs death of three others. Thirty-one-year-old Beverly Burrell, of Maplewood, was convicted of third-degree murder in the death of Max Tillitt and Luke Ronnei. Their family members told…

Body Recovered from Storm Sewer along Lakewalk

DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth Police have confirmed that human remains were recovered from a storm sewer line along the Lakewalk in Duluth. Authorities responded to the Lakewalk Restrooms around 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28. The report indicated a possible body in the storm sewer located there, according to police. Public Works members discovered what appeared to be a body…

Suspect Charged In Vista Fleet ‘Theft’

DULUTH, Minn. – A Minnesota man from the Twin Cities area is charged with releasing Duluth’s Vista boats into the harbor last week with one of them nearly getting hit by a freighter. The suspect is 49-year-old Mark Sullwold of Greenwood. The charge is felony theft, according to the Duluth Police Department. Vista owner Justin Steinbach told FOX 21he has no…

Cause of Ohio Man’s Death in North Korea May Never be Known

FILE: In this Feb. 29, 2016, file photo, American student Otto Warmbier speaks as he is presented to reporters in Pyongyang, North Korea. More than 15 months after he gave a staged confession in North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File) CINCINNATI (AP) — A coroner said Wednesday her office could not determine what led to the fatal brain damage…

Wisconsin DOJ Sets Up Website to Track Sex Assault Kit Tests

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Justice has set up a public website that tracks the agency’s efforts to test hundreds of untested sexual assault evidence kits. The kits have gone unexamined for a variety of reasons. Prosecutors may have decided the case was too weak, a defendant pleaded guilty or victims decided not to cooperate. None are…

Court Hears Brendan Dassey Appeal

  CHICAGO (AP) – A full federal appeals court has heard arguments about whether investigators coerced a confession from a Wisconsin inmate featured in the “Making a Murderer’ series. If they rule he was coerced, he could go free. Several judges at the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago on Tuesday appeared sympathetic to arguments that investigators manipulated…

Homicide Rates Down Significantly in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – New data from the FBI shows a significant drop in the number of homicides in Minnesota. While violent crime remained relatively unchanged, homicides dropped about 25 percent from 2015 to 2016, per 100,000 residents. Minnesota’s rate of decline was third nationwide, behind North Dakota and Connecticut. Last year, there were 101 homicides statewide, down from 131 in…

Man on Trial for Weapons Theft Confesses During Trial

Joseph Jakubowski MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A man accused of stealing an arsenal of firearms from a southern Wisconsin gun shop and sending an anti-government manifesto to President Donald Trump has admitted at trial that he committed the crimes. Joseph Jakubowski took the stand Monday in Madison, saying he robbed Armageddon Supplies near Janesville April 4 and took guns, magazines,…

Anthony Weiner Sentenced to 21 Months in Sexting Case

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) arrives at federal court for his sentencing hearing in a sexting scandal, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, in New York. (AP) NEW YORK (AP) — Former Rep. Anthony Weiner was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl in a case that rocked Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the White House in…

Duluth Police Investigating Shooting

Male, 19 Showed Up At Local Hospital With Gun Shot Wound

According to police, last night at 10:17 pm Duluth police responded to a local hospital on the report that a male had come in to be treated for a gunshot wound to the hand and leg. Police say the 19 year old victim had what appears to be a non–life threatening single gunshot wound that went through his hand and…

Home Invasion near Backus, Suspect Remains At-Large

Home invasion suspect sketch (Pine County Sheriff’s Office) UPDATE 9-22: An investigation has been underway in a home invasion, according to Cass Co. Sheriff Tom Burch. The sheriff reports that several leads have been followed, but nothing substantial has led to making an identification of the suspect. Authorities have released a sketch of the suspect with the same description originally…

Criminal Unties Vista Boats; 1 Boat Nearly Collides With Freighter

Surveillance Video Shows Suspect In Action

DULUTH, Minn. – Video from DuluthHarborCam.com shows the unbelievably close call between an unmanned Vista boat and a 750-foot ship gunning straight ahead into the Duluth harbor after a criminal unleashed that boat and another Vista boat from the dock behind the DECC. “Nightmare, a nightmare situation.  We missed it by about 20 feet,” said Justin Steinbach, owner of the…

Early Morning Shooting at 1200 Block of West Superior Street

No One Was Injured

DULUTH, Minn.-A shooting on the 1200 block of West Superior at midnight Thursday, has left no one injured. Police responded to the scene where several shots were heard. One man was taken into custody and could be facing multiple charges including second-degree assault, reckless discharge of a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with fourth-degree assault….

Reports of Shots Fired Near East Seventh Street

No One Injured

DULUTH, Minn.-Police responded to a report of multiple shots being fired at the 300 block of East Seventh Street at 3 a.m. today. No injuries are being reported. Police found four shell casings in the backyard where the shots were heard coming from. A vehicle that appeared to be suspicious, was pulled over near the scene, but no arrests were…

Conference Aims to Educate Seniors About Scams Online and Over the Phone

DULUTH, Minn. — They’re more dangerous than telemarketers or spam email; they’re scam artists out to steal our identities or our private information. And they’re the topic of an educational conference at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth earlier this morning. The “Scam Jam” is put on by the Better Business Bureau and AARP Minnesota. It’s a free event aimed at…

Little Falls Man Facing Drug Charges After Grand Rapids Bust

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – A Little Falls, Minnesota man has been charged with several drug charges after a drug bust at a Grand Rapids motel, according to Itasca County District Attorney, John J. Muhar. On the morning of Sept. 18, Grand Rapids police received information that 54-year-old Mark Batters was dealing methamphetamine from a room at the Sawmill Inn. Batters…

18 Arrests in Large Scale Drug Bust

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) – Eighteen people have been arrested in the Milwaukee area in a nationwide drug distribution and money-laundering operation. Law enforcement officials say about $1.3 million in cash was seized along with large amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana. U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad in Milwaukee says the drug operation stretched from Mexico to California to the Midwest….

Early Morning Vehicle Chase in Virginia

VIRGINIA, Minn. – Around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, Virginia Police attempted to stop a vehicle near the intersection of 6th Avenue North and 9th Street North, but the vehicle fled, heading east then southbound on 2nd Avenue South, according to the Virginia Police Department. The suspect was traveling 65 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. When…

Hibbing Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Sale of Meth

Anthony Kozar (Minnesota Dept. of Corrections) HIBBING, Minn. – A Hibbing man was sentenced today in St. Louis County Court. Anthony Kozar, 28, was sentenced to 122 months in prison for 1st Degree Aggravated Sale of Methamphetamine. Kozar was arrested by the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force in March of 2017 with a large quantity of meth…

State, Federal Authorities Proposing New Rules on Equifax

(AP) NEW YORK (AP) — State and federal authorities are proposing tougher regulations against Equifax and the entire credit monitoring industry after the company announced that personal information like Social Security numbers of about 143 million Americans was exposed. This is on top of the lawsuits already filed against Equifax by state attorneys general, and a multitude of lawsuits filed…

Leif Erikson Monument Vandalized

No Suspects in Custody

DULUTH, Minn. – A monument to Leif Erikson was vandalized with spray paint in the park named after him. Underneath Erikson’s name, it says “Discoverer of America.” A suspect spray painted over that in black, but that has since been cleaned off. Police do not have any suspects in custody at this point. Categories: Crime, News, News – Latest News…

Over $600,000 Coming to Northland to Fight Opioid Addiction

One Area of Concern is Over-Prescription of Opiates

DULUTH, Minn.-Minnesota is getting $6 million in funding to help battle opioid addiction. About 10 percent of that money will be going to St. Louis County. FOX 21 spoke with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Monday, about the addiction issues Minnesota faces. She said there has been a rapid rise in overdose deaths over the last few years, and she believes some…

Police: Wisconsin Man Caused Home Blast to Mask Wife Killing

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Police have arrested a Wisconsin man suspected of killing his wife and blowing up their home to try to cover up the crime. Authorities arrested 59-year-old Steven Pirus of Madison Saturday night. He is jailed on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide, arson, and recklessly endangering safety. Pirus is accused of fatally shooting 50-year-old Lee Anne Pirus….

2 Students Arrested for Threats Against Ashland School District

BOTH ARE FACING TERRORISTIC THREAT CHARGES

ASHLAND, Wis. – Ashland School District has received two separate threats, according to the Ashland Police Department. According to the release, on Sunday, Sept. 17, a concerned citizen said they observed a threat to Ashland High School on a Snapchat account. The Snapchat featured a picture of two boxes of shotgun shells and said, “Don’t come to school Monday.” Police…

More Money Coming to Minnesota to Fight Opioid Addiction

$6 Million Coming to Minnesota

  DULUTH, Minn.-Minnesota got some good news today in its fight against opioid addiction. The state is now due to receive major federal funding to the tune of $6 million to help fight the disease. That money will be dedicated to medication-assisted treatment. In 2016 more than 600 people in that state died from an opioid overdose.   Categories: Crime,…

Attorney: Slender Man Attacker Descended into ‘Madness’

TODD RICHMOND - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Anissa Weier passes a note to defense attorney Joseph Smith Jr.. during closing argument sin her case before Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via AP) WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin girl accused of helping her friend stab their classmate nearly to death to please online horror character Slender Man…

Search for Perpetrators of Bomb on London Subway, 29 Wounded

JILL LAWSON - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A police forensic officer stands beside the trail, at left, where an incident happened, that police say they are investigating as a terrorist attack at Parsons Green subway station in London. (AP) LONDON (AP) — A homemade bomb planted in a rush-hour subway car injured 29 people in London on Friday, sparking a huge manhunt for the perpetrators of what…