An apparently distraught woman kept police and communications dispatch center personnel on the telephone for over five hours Sunday.

Tuesday, May 09, 2000

An apparently distraught woman kept police and communications dispatch center personnel on the telephone for over five hours Sunday.

The first call came into the Austin-Mower County law enforcement center at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Another shorter telephone call was made at 3 a.m. Monday.

Law enforcement officials were unable to trace the telephone calls, but believe they may have originated in Owatonna on a cellular phone.

According to Police Chief Paul M. Philipp, the woman threatened to harm herself and wanted to give her nine-month-old son away.

At one point in the marathon five-hour telephone call, a doctor from the Austin Medical Center’s mental health center came to the LEC and listened to the call.

The woman told the dispatcher, an officer who took over the call, and the AMC doctor she had consumed large quantities of Demerol and vodka and wanted to kill her self. Before she did that, the woman said she wanted to turn her child over to authorities.

Despite repeated pleas to tell where she was calling from, the woman refused.

After her second hang-up, the incident ended without repeat.

Austin police have no leads on the whereabouts of the caller.

Attempted abduction reported

An adult female subject was found lying on a front lawn in near northwest Austin late Saturday night.

She was crying and told investigators two male subjects had attempted to kidnap her.

According to an Austin Police Department report, officers went to 800 10th Avenue N.W. at 11:47 p.m. Saturday.

Because the Hispanic woman did not understand English, the police department’s community service officer, Ernesto Cantu, was summoned to interpret.

The woman told officers two male Hispanic subjects entered her bedroom in the rooming house and carried her outside to the lawn. She struggled with the men and they left her lying on the grass and drove-off in a four-door automobile.

Because six Hispanic males were awake and in the living room of the house when the woman claimed the attempted abduction took place, there is some concern the report may be false, as two men carrying a crying and struggling woman outside the home would have had to pass by the room where the six individuals were sitting.

However, the woman refused to tell police more details about the alleged incident in the first interview and the six male subjects inside the home were also uncooperative.

At a second interview conducted the day after the alleged attempt, the woman told police she wants to file charges against the abductors.

Austin police have no clues about the identity of the alleged abductors.

Drug charges filed

Christopher Lynch, 18, of Austin, and a 17-year-old male subject, face felony drug charges.

According to reports Lynch was observed driving erratically in Mapleview.

When the driver and his passenger lowered their windows, the smell of burning marijuana was immediately evident to the investigating officers.

The driver consented to a search of the auto’s trunk and the MCSD drug-sniffing canine unit, Cleo, was summoned to the scene with her handler, Deputy Jeff Ellis.

A search of the trunk revealed drug paraphernalia, plus a total of 74.5 grams of a substance believed to be marijuana hidden in three different locations.

The juvenile was released to his mother, while Lynch was jailed.