Oakdale Police Blotter: Lighting Cigarette Sets Car on Fire

A car burst into flames Wednesday, Feb. 29, when its driver lit a cigarette inside, according to an Oakdale Police Department report.

The car was fully engulfed in flames when the Oakdale Fire Department got to the hotel parking lot around 4:15 p.m. to extinguish the fire, the report says.

There was a propane tank in the trunk of the car, and fire officials suspect it had been leaking, according to the report.

The driver’s hair was singed, but he told police he wasn’t injured, the report says. Another car parked nearby was damaged in the incident, according to the report.

The following incidents were also reported to Oakdale police Feb. 28-29:

Feb. 28:

• An 18-year-old woman was transported to Woodwinds Hospital after falling and hurting her lower back while jumping on trampolines at .
• Two girls, ages 15 and 16, were cited for disorderly conduct after getting into a fight at around 1 p.m. Police investigated the fight and found that the two had been feuding on Facebook over the weekend. One of the girls had minor redness on her face, and the other one had a minor cut on her lip.  
• A 25-year-old Maplewood man was cited for pumping $58 worth of gas at at 10^th Street and Geneva Avenue and driving off without paying for it.

Feb. 29:

• A $200 cell phone was stolen from a cafeteria table at Tartan High School between 8:05 and 8:10 a.m.
• Someone broke out the driver’s side rear window of a vehicle parked in an underground garage in the 5600 block of Hadley Avenue causing $250 damage. Nothing was stolen from the vehicle.
• An Oakdale woman reported that her estranged husband called her 24 times in two days. The man was cited for harassing telephone calls.
• A 21-year-old woman reported that a man grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the face in the 1300 block of Gentry Avenue. The man, a 20-year-old from Oakdale, was transported to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and cited.
• An Oakdale woman reported that two unauthorized charges for $91 and $46 were made to her credit card. She still has the card in her possession.
• An employee at reported that a suspect had come to the bank to make a deposit and withdrawal from an account that had been opened at a bank branch in Maplewood the day before. He withdrew $2,000 from the account before the check he had deposited was returned as being from a closed account. He is a suspect in another similar case.
• A resident in the 7100 block of 17^th Street reported that her ex-boyfriend crawled under her partially open garage door and kicked in the locked service door into the house. He told her that he was going to make her life miserable and hit her in the head with a glass, causing a red mark above her lip. He also raised a metal pole in a threatening manner, but didn’t strike her with it. A witness gave the same account of the incident.
• A $200 iPod Touch was stolen from a computer desktop at Tartan High School between 12:50 and 1:50 p.m. Feb. 28.

The above items are taken from the . In all incidents where an arrest occurred, a charge is merely an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. The arrested person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Incidents are listed in the order in which they were reported, not necessarily the order in which they occurred.