A traffic stop resulted in multiple charges filed against a rural Austin man and an unbelievable story of the circumstances that precipitated the incident.

Monday, October 16, 2000

A traffic stop resulted in multiple charges filed against a rural Austin man and an unbelievable story of the circumstances that precipitated the incident.

An Austin Police Department officer on routine patrol observed a suspicious vehicle traveling along First Drive NW near Austin Medical Center shortly after midnight Sunday.

Radar clocked the car traveling at 55 mph and accelerating to 68, when it abruptly pulled into a private driveway.

The officer pulled in behind the vehicle and observed the driver get into the back seat of the car and a female move into the front seat.

When the occupants refused to exit the vehicle after oral commands and because the windows of the vehicle were fogged, the officer drew his sidearm and issued numerous audible warnings for the occupants to get out of the car.

Finally, a man exited the vehicle, acting very belligerently toward the officer, police said. he man smelled of alcohol and was handcuffed and placed in a police car, according to police reports.

A female and an infant child also exited the vehicle.

The female was identified as Tonya Turvey, 19 of Austin, who was caring for a 1 1/2-month-old baby belonging to another woman.

The woman told the officer that she and her male companion were being chased by a maroon pickup truck whose occupants were "trying to kill them," according to the report.

The officer noted he did not see such a vehicle pursuing the car and its occupants.

The driver was identified by police as Juan Manual Cisneros, 29, of rural Austin. He was taken to the Mower County Jail and charged with gross misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, refusing to test for blood-alcohol content and child endangerment, plus driving with aggravated violations, criminal damage to property, driving after revocation and disorderly conduct.

The woman was not charged.

Another police report told how Cisneros was involved in an altercation outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars Club along Fourth Avenue NE late Saturday night.

Two men, Juan Rodriguez, 20, of 804 First Ave. NW, and Cisneros were charged with disorderly conduct.

Each man alleged the other wielded a knife in a fight in the parking lot of the VFW.

No injuries were sustained by either man, according to the report.

Fields damaged

A Wescott Field soccer field and a portion of the Mower County Fairgrounds infield were damaged over the weekend.

A vehicle driving east bound on Fourth Avenue NW apparently jumped the curb and smashed through a security fence around a soccer field.

The incident of vandalism is believed to have happened between 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday, when it was discovered.

Sometime between 4 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday, a similar incident was discovered at the Mower County Fairgrounds.

Because similar pieces of equipment from a motor vehicle were found at both sites as well as similar paint chips, police believe the incidents are related.

Anyone seeing any suspicious activity at either site is asked to call the Austin-Mower County Law Enforcement Center at 437-9400.

Vehicle rolls over

BROWNSDALE – A one-vehicle roll-over early today sent Minnesota State Patrol and Mower County Sheriff’s Department officers racing to the accident at the intersection of Interstate 90 and Highway 56 south of Brownsdale.

According to a Sheriff’s Department report, the accident was reported at 7:20 a.m. today.

The five occupants of the vehicle were standing outside the vehicle when authorities arrived and refused medical treatment.

No other details were immediately available and the state patrol is continuing its investigation.