Owatonna man gets prison in 2 cases

Published 7:47 am Friday, June 9, 2017

A man who led police on a nearly 6-mile pursuit in March 2017 and was arrested with burglary tools on a Dexter farm in March 2016 is heading to prison.

Garret Wade Grassel, 38, of Owatonna, was sentenced in Mower County District Court Thursday to two years and two months in prison for felony third-degree burglary in one case and a concurrent sentence of 19 month in prison for fleeing a peace officer in the other. Both are felonies, and Grassel received credit for 103 days served.

According to court records, a Mower County deputy observed a 2006 Chevrolet HHR, driven by Grassel, cross the fog line several times on County Road 1 in Waltham Township at 11:15 p.m. on March 2.

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The deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the car kept going onto County Road 16, County Road 5 and finally Highway 30 in Dodge County. The ordeal went about 5.7 miles at speeds up to 58 mph in 55 mph zones.

Grassel had a large, sheathed knife, so the deputy ordered him to put his hands up and handcuffed him. The deputy seized four knives from his pockets.

After showing signs of being on a controlled substance, Grassel submitted to a preliminary Breathalyzer test and blew a 0.021.

However, he told the deputy he had not drank or done drugs.

He said he didn’t stop because he had a bad shoulder and nerve damage and didn’t see the squad lights or hear the siren.

Grassel did not have insurance and his license was canceled, but the deputy found he had two warrants out for his arrest. He was arrested and transported to the Mower County Jail.

On March 4, 2016, Grassel and Melissa Gail Daily of Faribault were arrested after they were found near a Dexter farm with burglary tools.

Last year, Daily was convicted of a trespassing misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor for second-degree DWI after refusing to submit to a chemical test. She was sentenced to two years of probation.

Grassel was previously convicted for fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in 2012 in Faribault County.