Crime

Half of Wisconsin Meth Labs Found in 2 Southern Counties

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) – Half of the nearly 30 methamphetamine labs identified by law enforcement in Wisconsin since October have been found in two southern counties. Data from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Milwaukee office show Rock County had four labs while Walworth County had nine. Rock County sheriff’s Cmdr. Troy Knudson tells the Janesville Gazette that meth incidents are increasing…

Two Females Wanted After Attempted Homicide

Aseil Cynthia-Salema Abuhamed (left) and Tayah Valorios Thomas (right) PINE COUNTY, Minn. – The Pine County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating two females who were involved in an attempted homicide in Hinckley. On Wednesday, April 26, Aseil Cynthia-Salema Abuhamed, 17 and Tayah Valorios Thomas, 17, stabbed a male victim, resulting in life-threatening injuries. Both fled the…

15-Year Sentence for Shooter at Black Lives Matter Protest

Allen Scarsella MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Minnesota man convicted in the shootings of five black men who were demonstrating against the police killing of a black man in Minneapolis has been sentenced to move than 15 years in prison. Allen Scarsella’s sentence on Wednesday was only a few months short of the prosecution’s request. The 25-year-old Bloomington man was convicted…

Minnesota Couple Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teenage Girl

Michael and Heather Germain Photo: Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office GOODHUE, Minn. (AP) – A southeastern Minnesota couple is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and trying to recruit her for a swinger’s lifestyle. Michael Lowell Germain, 43 and 49-year-old Heather Laverne Germain of Goodhue appeared in court Monday on charges including criminal sexual conduct and interfering with the privacy…

Man Charged After Drug Bust in the 600 Block of E 6th St in Duluth

Search warrant executed on Wednesday, April 19

Arthur Barksdale DULUTH, Minn. – According to the Duluth Police Department, the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 600 block East 3rd Street and a motor vehicle on April 19, 2017. The search warrant was a result of an investigation into the suspected sale of controlled substances and ongoing…

Teen Says Man Who Stabbed Her at St. Cloud Walmart is a Stranger

FOX 9 - KMSP

Photo: WJON ST. CLOUD, Minn. (KMSP) – A 29-year-old St. Cloud man is in custody after St. Cloud police say he stabbed a 17-year-old St. Cloud girl at Walmart. Police received the call just before 7:30 p.m. that a stabbing occurred at the Walmart on the 3600 block of 2nd Street in St. Cloud. Christian De Beche, Photo: Stearns Co…

Stabbing in Cloquet Leaves One Man Hospitalized, Suspect Still At-Large

CLOQUET, Minn. – Around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, officers form the Cloquet Police Department responded to the Cloquet Community Memorial Hospital for a patient with two stab wounds to his abdomen and arm. Officers learned during their investigation that the 37-year-old male victim was in the 1800 block of Washington Avenue when the assault occurred. The victim has…

Groups Want Wisconsin to End Solitary Confinement of Youth

Racine County’s Juvenile Detention Center – WUMWMILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin juvenile advocacy groups are asking a federal court to order the state to stop using solitary confinement at its youth correctional facilities. The ACLU of Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center filed the request Wednesday as part of a pending lawsuit alleging poor treatment of juveniles at the Lincoln…

Medical Examiner: Probable Opioid Overdose Killed 4-Year-Old

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) – Another young child has died of a suspected opioid overdose in Milwaukee County. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner says the death of 4-year-old Tyranne Beckless last week is being investigated as a probable opioid overdose, the seventh child under five to die in a similar way in the last 19 months in Milwaukee County. Additional toxicology…

No Criminal Charges in Itasca County Assault Incident

ITASCA COUNTY, Minn. – An altercation between two men in Goodland, Minnesota, has recently become a talking point on social media. Law enforcement has released their findings in the investigation of this incident, and believes it provides considerable information, which was not available in discussions on social media. An altercation between 82-year-old Mark David Mehle, of Goodland, and Ed Allen…

Burnsville HS Teacher Arrested for ‘Sexually Explicit’ Communication with Student

Rose Heaphy - Fox 9

Erik Akervik BURNSVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) – A Burnsville High School music teacher was arrested Monday on suspicion of having explicit electronic communications with a student. The school district said they received a complaint about Erik Akervik last Saturday and immediately began an investigation. Police were notified that the teacher “had been communicating with a student electronically and the communication contained…

Suspect Released in St. Paul Triple Homicide Case

KMSP - FOX 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP- FOX 9) – The lone surviving suspect in last week’s triple homicide in St. Paul, Minnesota has been released from custody after prosecutors said they needed more time to determine the extend and nature of his role in the shooting. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office did not file charges on Monday and instead sent the case…

Man Charged with Sale of a Controlled Substance

Search warrant executed in the 1500 block of East Superior Street

DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant on the afternoon of April 6, in the 1500 block of East Superior Street in the City of Duluth. The search warrant was a result of an investigation into the suspected sale of heroin at that address. During the search, investigators located approximately six…

Appeals Court Affirms Provisional Discharge of Man from MSOP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The state Appeals Court is affirming a judicial panel’s decision to grant a man’s provisional discharge from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. Monday’s decision comes in the case of 74-year-old Eugene Kropp, who was committed in 1998 after a history of molesting boys. His provisional discharge was granted last year. Authorities appealed, saying Kropp’s provisional release plan…

4 Dead, 1 Injured in St. Paul Shooting, Toddler Found Before AMBER Alert Issued

FOX 9 - KMSP

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Four people are dead and one person was seriously injured during a shooting in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota early Friday morning. A toddler was also taken, but officers and a K9 safely recovered the girl as police were in the process of preparing an AMBER Alert. The shooting took place around 1…

22-Year-Old Charged with 1st Degree Sale After Heroin Bust

Kontrell Brown DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, along with the Superior Police Department, and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, executed a search warrant on a motor vehicle and 22-year-old Kontrell Elander Drake Brown of Chicago following an investigation into the sale of heroin. Duluth Police Department The search warrant was executed in Duluth, and during…

Defense Wants Trial Moved for Officer Who Shot Castile

Jeronimo Yanez ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) –  Defense attorneys are pushing to move the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer charged with fatally shooting a black motorist last summer. Attorneys for St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez argued in court Tuesday, that the officer cannot get a fair trial in Ramsey County, where Philando Castile was shot, because of…

Suspect in N. Wisconsin Shootings Dead

Nengmy Vang was Killed by Police in Shootout

MADISON, Wis. (AP) A man suspected in a string of fatal northern Wisconsin shootings that ended in a shootout with police has died. State Department of Justice spokesman Johnny Koremenos says 45-year-old Nengmy Vang died about 1:28 a.m. Saturday. Investigators say Vang got into a domestic incident with his wife and went to the Rothschild bank where she worked on…

Lawyers Want High Court to Take Minnesota Sex Offenders Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Lawyers for sex offenders confined indefinitely to Minnesota’s secure treatment program have asked a judge to stay all further proceedings while they ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court finding that the program is constitutional. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank declared the program unconstitutional after phase one of the case in 2015 because only…