Hudson Police Blotter: An Officer Bids an Injured Turtle "Cowabunga"

Turtle Rescue: Patrol Officer Ed Rankin responded to a call about an injured turtle on July 4 around 12:30 p.m. on River Ridge Road. His complete report: “A concerned citizen called about an injured turtle that had been ruthlessly run down by a car while crossing the road. I arrived and found the turtle on his back with extensive damage to his shell and serious blood loss but he was still alive. There was a pond nearby and I carried him there and he was able to swim away but the loss of his shell on his right side caused him to swim large left circles so he qualifies for NASCAR. He tipped his little webbed foot to his round shiny head, said thanks and we parted ways. Cowabunga.”

Suspicious Photographer: Two Hudson Police Officers responded to a Hudson Booster Days security guard who got a complaint from a woman on July 1 around 10 p.m. of a man who appeared to be taking photos of children on carnival rides. A 25-year-old Hudson man was identified as the man with the suspicious camera and when officers talked to him, he said he had just got “a new camera and he was trying it out in various light and moving conditions,” and he was not taking photos of children. The man showed the officer the photos on the camera and revealed “photos of his apartment and two extremely blurred, colorful photos of what appeared to be one of the carnival rides,” and no visible children. The officer said the venue was not a good one for photography because of concerned parents and the photographer agreed and left.

Vehicle Damage: On July 1 a resident of the 100 block of Wisconsin Street called the police department around 7 p.m. to report damage to his vehicle. When he went outside to his 2005 Land Rover the man noticed a large dent on the roof and a cracked sunroof. He told officers he thought someone must have jumped on it to cause that kind of damage and it would cost about $1,000 to repair.

Goodwill Theft: The manager of the Goodwill store in the 1600 block of Coulee Drive reported a theft on July 3 at 3:37 p.m. The manager said there were two women in their mid 50s and “one had a Farah Fawcett wig on,” who pulled a stunt to steal an unspecified amount of merchandise. One woman distracted the manager while the other stuffed things into a bag before leaving the store and changing her shirt before coming back in. When the woman reentered the store she and her distracting cohort filled a shopping cart with items and darted out the store without paying for them. The manager chased them into the parking lot which made one of the women beg not to call police before speeding off in a car with Minnesota plates. The manager said she didn’t know how much was stolen and didn’t have a way of  checking inventory to know.

Not so Fine Time: A fight broke out on the Dock on Dike Road on July 4 around 6:37 p.m. between a large group of people, including a 28-year-old Forest Lake, Minn. Man and two men from Afton, Minn., a 40-year-old and a 36-year-old, when people were trying to dock a boat named “Fine Time.” A large group of people who had already docked their boats watched Fine Time come in from the water and thought it was being driven too fast and made the other boats bump together. When Fine Time’s captain and owner were approached by a crowd of people the confrontation started. Then someone tried to untie the boat which launcedh the fight into a physical one. The police report said someone heard the 40-year-old man say “something to the effect of having a gun and shooting someone in the face.” The man denied it,  did say he said: “If I had a gun I could shoot you.” No weapons were found. Eventually police cleared the fight, asked the people on the dock to leave and left the people aboard Fine Time to their boat.

Missing Girl: A 23-year-old North Hudson man called police on July 4 at 2:45 a.m. to report his 21-year-old North Hudson girlfriend missing. She had last been seen with her friends in Lakefront Park the night before they didn’t know where she went. Her vehicle was found in town undamaged, but she wasn’t in it. Her home was also checked but her brother and father said they didn’t know where she was or who she could be with. Phone calls and messages from the boyfriend and police were not returned. She had not been found at 4 a.m. but no follow up report was available.