Minnesota law enforcement officials cracking down on seat belt use

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 27, 2002

Minnesota law enforcement agencies are patrolling the state's roadways and streets in another crackdown on unbuckled drivers.

The Safe and Sober enhanced law enforcement campaign began Nov. 21 and continues through Sunday, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety.

The Thanksgiving campaign is a follow-up to the state's highly successful May Mobilization effort, which helped boost seat belt usage from 74 to 80 percent -- the largest jump in seat belt use since 1998.

Email newsletter signup

The Thanksgiving campaign will involve more than 200 law enforcement agencies.

Despite increasing seat belt use, the state's traffic fatalities this year are currently at the 514 mark and on a pace to top last year's tally of 568.

Of those deaths, 310 were attributed to non-use of a seat belt.

Guard nabs suspect

A private security guard hired to protect the residents of Bremerton Townhomes caught a breaking and entering suspect.

According to an Austin Police Department report, when officers arrived late Sunday evening at the west Austin multiple-family housing project, they discovered the female security guard atop the subject on the ground outside an apartment.

A 24-year-old Austin man faces charges of attempted breaking and entering, according to police.

According to the report, the man went to the apartment of a stepsister, pounded on the door, but was refused entrance.

When the security guard heard the uproar, she ran to the scene and attempted to subdue the man.

Taser stops man

An incident unfolded early Sunday morning involving a man with a five-foot long sword.

According to an Austin Police Department report, clerks at the Kwik Trip Store at the intersection of W. Oakland Avenue and 12th Street SW reported a man seen laying a long sword on the sidewalk outside the store and then entering the store. He had open wounds and was bleeding. The man left the store and the clerks called the Austin Police Department.

Officers went to the Brandon Allen Smith residence at 403 10th St. NW and discovered the man brandishing a sword at an upstairs window.

Smith, who has an Austin Police Department criminal history, told officers he had argued with his girlfriend and had broken the windows in the house, according to police.

His girlfriend arrived at the scene with friends to retrieve things from the house. When she came out, police questioned her. Then Smith left the residence with the sword and went behind a tree. When police ordered him to surrender, he stepped from behind the tree holding his arms out-stretched as if he had a handgun pointed at the officers.

One of the officers fired a Taser weapon on Smith, striking him in the chest and groin area.

The 24-year-old man was taken to Austin Medical Center for observation and then jailed on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of a dangerous weapon.

According to the police report, he may face additional charges when the Mower Count Attorney's office reviews the report.

Woman reports assault

A 20-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her Bremerton Townhomes unit Saturday night.

The suspect, Ochan Okash, 23, of Austin, was arrested. He was jailed on criminal sexual assault charges.

According to an Austin Police Department report, the 20-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter were driven home by a cousin.

Later, she heard a knock at the door and when she opened it, a man burst inside and struck her, according to police.

The suspect allegedly yelled at the woman and sexually assaulted her on a couch in the townhome's living room, according to police reports.

According to the victim, the man refused to leave her residence and would not let her leave after the attack.

He also threatened to have "his brother in Africa kill her mother and brother," police said.

When the man finally allowed her to take out the garbage, she went to two nearby units to call for help, but neither tenant had telephone service, according to police.

When she returned, the man was gone and she went to another apartment and called Austin police.

Later Sunday, Austin police returned to Bremerton Townhomes and took Okash into custody and charged him in connection with the crime.

He remains in the Mower County Jail.

Employees nab thieves

Cash Wise Food and Drugs employees caught two shoplifters in the act early Saturday.

According to an Austin Police Department report, when officers arrived at the supermarket off 18th Avenue NW, they observed store employees holding a man down on the ground of the store's parking lot.

Inside the store, police officers found other employees subduing another male subject.

Jesse Kranz and Jason D. Wiedeman, both 18 of Austin, were arrested and charged with felony theft.

The pair allegedly attempted to steal cigarettes from the supermarket and had 30 cartons in their possession, when store employees stopped them. The cigarettes are valued at more than $900, according to the police report.

Father, son collide

ROSE CREEK -- A father and son accident was reported Saturday afternoon near Rose Creek.

According to a Mower County Sheriff's Department report, the accident involved John Felten, 70, driving a passenger car and his son Steven F. Felten, 43, riding a motorcycle.

John Felten told sheriff's deputies, he stopped for a stop sign along Mower County No. 19, looked both ways, and then pulled onto County No. 19, where he collided with a motorcycle.

John Felten drove to his nearby residence to call for help, while his son, Steven F. Felten remained in a roadside ditch, where he had been thrown from his motorcycle.

The victim was rushed to Austin Medical Center and later transferred to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester by a Mayo One helicopter.

Monday, the cyclist was listed in critical condition at the Rochester hospital with multiple fractures.

Multiple charges filed

A deputy observed a motorist weaving his vehicle in traffic early Sunday morning.

When the deputy stopped the motorist and investigated, he filed multiple charges against the driver.

According to the Sheriff's Department report, Dustin Ellis, 26 of Rochester, was charged with DWI, fifth degree controlled substance crime, open bottle violation and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A 33-year-old male passenger was questioned and released.

Ellis remains in the Mower County Jail.

Explosion injures teen

Travis A. Pendergrast, 16 of rural Austin, remains hospitalized after a pipe bomb explosion.

Pendergrast and two young companions, ages 17 and 18, were experimenting with simulated pipe bombs and muzzle-loading devices late Saturday afternoon at a rural residence along U.S. Highway 218 N.

Neighbors reported hearing a "shotgun-like explosion" and called authorities.

Pendergrast was rushed to Austin Medical Center by a Gold Cross Ambulance Service crew and then transferred by Mayo One to St. Mary's Hospital at Rochester for treatment of facial injuries.

Two male companions, ages 17 and 18, told investigators they were experimenting with building muzzle loading devices by constructing a pipe bomb-type device filled with black powder and ignited by a shotgun shell primer or hot electrical wires, when the explosion occurred near 4 p.m. Saturday.

The boys took the pipe material and threw it into a nearby field before deputies arrived, but later retrieved it to show deputies and Austin Police Department officers who also investigated the explosion.

Despite wearing a motorcycle helmet with a face shield, Pendergrast's injuries were called serious by investigators.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com