Lakeville Police On Scene of Two Crashes as They Occur

patrol officers respond to traffic crashes almost every day of their career. Many traffic crashes are minor with a small amount of property damage to the vehicles involved and no injuries to the drivers or passengers in the vehicles. Some traffic crashes are more serious with severely or even fatally injured persons and significant damage to the vehicles. Whether serious or not, it is unusual for officers on patrol to actually see a crash occur or to be right at the scene of a crash after it happens, but that is exactly what happened, not once but twice this week.

Sergeant Bill Gerl was on patrol one day this week at an intersection near County Road 70 and Interstate 35 when he saw a semi tractor trailer unit attempting to make a wide right turn out of a driveway, when a car pulled up to the intersection on the right side of the truck. Sergeant Gerl watched as the driver of the semi, apparently unaware of the car to his right, turned too sharply and the rear wheels of the semi trailer ran over the rear end of the car. The driver of the car sustained only very minor injuries, but was understandably very shaken up by the experience.

Then this past Thursday morning, shortly after 7 a.m. during the morning rush hour, Officer Kevin O’Neill was on routine patrol when he came across a . The crash, on Ipava Avenue at the entrance to the Century Middle School parking lot, happened only moments before Officer O’Neill arrived at the scene. Officer O’Neill was on the scene so quickly that as he arrived, the first 911 calls were only just being made to the dispatch center.

The crash involved a school bus attempting to make a left turn into the school parking lot and was struck by an oncoming SUV. Officer O’Neill found that there were 39 students on the school bus going to Century Middle School. An initial request was made for back up from other officers in the area as well as assistance from the Lakeville Fire Department and Allina EMS. Officer O’Neill was soon joined by Sergeant Andy Bohlen and Officer Mike Katzovitz at the scene. Together, the three officers were able to sort out the crash scene, quickly assessing and providing aid to occupants of both the vehicle and school bus.

All of the students on the bus were checked on by the paramedics and only two complained of very minor injuries as a result of the impact. The driver of the SUV had sustained a superficial injury that did not require medical aid. All the students were moved inside the school, where they were then checked by the school nurse. The fact that the officers were on the scenes of both of these crashes right away, assisting and rending first aid to the drivers and passengers of the vehicles so quickly, no doubt helped to calm and reassure them after the experience of being involved in a crash.

Weekly LPD Snapshot

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of February 3 to February 10, 2012

Traffic crashes 10, Alarms 21, Animal Calls 20, Medical Emergency Calls 19,  Thefts 13, Traffic Stops 270

Alert Patrol Officer Recovers Stolen Vehicle

While driving through a motel parking lot on patrol on the overnight shift, Officer Shawn Fitzhenry noticed a late model Acura with no plates on it parked in the lot. Thinking that this was odd, he walked up to the parked vehicle and saw a set of license plates on the back seat of the car. When Officer Fitzhenry ran routine registration checks on the plates, he learned that they registered to the Acura and the vehicle came back as a stolen vehicle out of Utah. Officer Fitzhenry verified the computer information on the vehicle, confirming that it was stolen.

Officer Fitzhenry then contacted the motel staff and learned that there was one person staying in the motel from Utah associated with the vehicle. Computer checks on this person from Utah revealed that he also had several arrest warrants for him from the states of Washington and Idaho. The subject was called down to the front desk and the officers arrested him on the warrants and the additional charges of possession of a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was towed and impounded. The subject was placed in the Dakota County Jail pending formal charges.

Dumb Criminal of the Week

You would think if you didn’t have a driver’s license, you probably wouldn’t drive a car that has expired license plates as you might draw the attention of a police officer. That is exactly what happened last week to a hapless driver when Officer Jessica Swaner stopped a vehicle with expired plates.

Officer Swaner found that the driver not only did not have a valid license, but also that his driving privileges were cancelled by the State of Minnesota. Officer Swaner arrested the driver and he was brought to the PD to be booked for formal Gross Misdemeanor charges. The car was towed and impounded.