RIVER FALLS Police Department Reports

The following incidents were reported to River Falls Police Department Feb. 25 through March 21.

Friday, Feb. 25

Officers responded at 8:28 a.m. to 570 Bandle St., where a burglary had occurred overnight. According to a neighbor’s video surveillance system, a suspect entered the home at 8:07 p.m. Feb. 25 using the overhead garage door code and was inside for 13 minutes. The suspect exited from the front door. Video surveillance shows the suspect vehicle driving by the residence earlier in the day at 11:43 a.m. and 7:46 p.m., then parking in front of the residence at 8:07 p.m. (the complainant wasn’t home). A person exits the vehicle, enters the residence and later exits carrying a safe. When the complainant returned home the next morning, he noticed the 25-pound safe missing and his bedroom drawers open. The safe contained about $30,000 in cash, vehicle titles, a Social Security card, birth certificate and other sensitive information. About $1,500 in cash was taken from another box sitting on a nightstand in the master bedroom. The complainant said the only people who know the garage code are him, his current girlfriend (who he was with) and his ex-girlfriend. The suspect vehicle was a white 2013-2018 Dodge Ram 2500 or 2500. Men’s footprints were photographed in the snow leaving the house. Two possible suspects were identified. The case remains under investigation.

Wednesday, March 9

At 3 p.m., a complainant filed a theft by contractor complaint for work that was paid for but left uncompleted at 1343 Sycamore St. The complainant hired a Forest Lake, Minn. man in February 2021 to complete improvements to her rental home. The bid he submitted was $7,500 and she paid him $3,750 up front for materials. He worked on the home for one day and never showed up again, leaving behind about $100 in tools. He told her that he had back issues, had been in a car accident and fractured his wrist. The last time he responded to her was April 20, 2021. She hired a new company in January 2022 to complete the work, which cost about $29,847.91. The case remains under investigation.

Thursday, March 10

Officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at 10:55 a.m. at Walnut and Main streets between a 2009 Dodge Caliber, driven by Eunice Edith Vorwald, 83, River Falls, and a 2021 Tesla Model S, driven by

Dennis Harry Johnson, 76, River Falls. Vorwald was backing out of a parking spot on East Walnut Street and failed to see Johnson’s vehicle approaching traveling west. Her rear bumper struck Johnson’s passenger side, causing minor damage to both vehicles. Both drivers and Vorwald’s passenger Samuel Robert Schoolman, 18, Stillwater, Minn., wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Vorwald was cited for unsafe backing of vehicle.

Tuesday, March 15

Police responded to a twovehicle crash at 11:20 a.m. at North Main Street and Paulson Road between a 2020 Ford F150, driven by Nathan Josiah Herum, 37, River Falls, and a 2020 Ford Econoline, driven by Brandon William Lopez Laatsch, 31, River Falls. Both vehicles were stopped at a red light on North Main at Paulson Road. Lopez Laatsch said he saw the green arrow and thought the solid green light was active (it wasn’t, just the arrow), so he accelerated and rear-ended Herum, who remained stopped in front of him. Both vehicles had minor damage; both drivers wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Two passengers in Herum’s vehicles, ages, 6 and 7, were properly restrained and reported no injuries. Lopez Laatsch was cited for inattentive driving.

At 9:14 a.m., a resident at 717 Union St. reported a vehicle parked blocking his driveway. When police arrived, they found a Ford Excursion parked mostly in the driveway at an angle, with the rear-end in the street. The vehicle’s registered owner, David Arthur Merten, 61, Woodbury, Minn., was cited for blocking the driveway and the vehicle was towed. The complainant said his wife saw someone walking away from the vehicle at 9 p.m. the night before; it sounds like the vehicle wasn’t working properly.

Law enforcement responded to a two-vehicle crash at 2:30 p.m. at Highway 35/65 and Cascade Avenue between a 2014 Ford F150, driven by Anthony Robert Feuerhelm,

49, Hager City, and a 2005 Ford Mustang, driven by

Nathan Lee Oliver, 18, River Falls. Oliver said he was heading east on Cascade Avenue and looked down to his lap as he was about to turn left onto Highway 65. When he looked up again, the stoplight at the Highway 65 intersection was red but it was too late and he struck Feuerhelm’s truck in the passenger side. He said Feuerhelm, who had the green light while heading south on Highway 65, “came out of nowhere.” Both vehicles were towed due to disabling damage. Both drivers wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Two passengers in Oliver’s vehicle, Angelica Rose Schanus, 19, River Falls, and Carter Quinton Lavelle, 20, Menomonie, also wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Oliver was cited for inattentive driving, operator violate red traffic light, operate without valid license and operate motor vehicle without insurance.

Officers were called at 2:26 p.m. to 420 S. Fourth St. for a catalytic converter theft from a 2008 Toyota Prius. The driver had parked the car there at 8:30 a.m. and noticed the theft at 2:14 p.m. The estimate for repair came to $3,230.71.

At 3 p.m. March 15, an officer was assigned a property damage case that had occurred March 2 at Glen Park (355 Park St.) and reported by a city employee March 4. A door handle at the Glen Park Pavilion had been damaged. Surveillance video shows the suspect, who police identified, approaching the pavilion at 12:32 a.m. with a large tree branch. The estimated repair cost is $350.

Wednesday, March 16 Jordan Paul Louis Rodriguez, 23, Cottage Grove, Minn., was arrested and cited $861 for OWI and $861 for operating with PAC after a traffic stop for backing up in a roundabout at 2:07 a.m. at Cemetery Road and Wasson Lane. While on patrol, an officer saw a small SUV enter the far right lane of the roundabout to head west onto Cemetery Road. The SUV suddenly stopped, backed up about 20 yards, and took the inside lane of the roundabout to head east on Cemetery. The vehicle accelerated quickly and squealed its tires. When the officer pulled it over, he could smell intoxicants coming from the driver, who had glassy, bloodshot eyes. After failing field sobriety tests, Rodriguez registered a 0.199 BAC. He told police he had been downtown celebrating someone’s birthday, and was headed from a Wildcat Court apartment to Kwik Trip, but had been given wrong directions.

At 8 a.m., a complainant reported a catalytic converter theft, that occurred while the vehicle, a 2008 Toyota Prius, was parked near Spruce Street and Cascade Avenue. The Prius had been parked there from 5:40 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 15. There are no suspects.

Nicholas Donald Ellenwood, 19, River Falls, was cited $187 for possess drug paraphernalia and $124 for speeding on city highway after a traffic stop at 8:15 p.m. near Maple and Lewis streets. The officer had clocked Ellenwood going 44 mph in a 25-mphzone on Main Street. When Ellenwood opened his glovebox, police saw a glass smoking device inside, giving them reason to search the vehicle. They found three more smoking devices, which tested positive for THC. Ellenwood was cited and released.

Thursday, March 17

Police responded at 1:45 p.m. to a hit-and-run crash on the Winter Street bridge between a 2017 GMC, driven by Michelle Ann Ducklow, 49, River Falls, and an unknown vehicle that left the scene. The unknown driver was traveling north on Winter Street, while Ducklow was heading south. The other vehicle crossed the center line and struck the driver’s side corner of Ducklow’s SUV, causing functional damage. Ducklow wore a seat belt and reported no injuries. Several officers and State Patrol attempted to find the vehicle that left.

Saturday, March 19

Officers responded to a hitand- run crash scene at 7:20 a.m. on Highway 35 northbound just south of Quarry Road. An unknown vehicle had struck the median divided sign and left the scene. The pole was snapped off at its base but the sign was still in good condition.

Police were called at 11:34 a.m. to Kinnic Health & Rehab (1663 Division St.) for a laptop theft. The complainant said her personal laptop had been stolen from a shelf in the laundry room, sometime after 3 p.m. March 18 and before 9 a.m. March 19.

At 2:05 p.m., a third party reported a domestic incident that had occurred the night before at 3574 Sterling Heights Drive. An argument had followed a couple’s break-up, and a man, identified as Devon Michael Booker, 29, River Falls, had stabbed a knife into a plastic dresser. After interviewing the parties involved, Booker was arrested for domestic disorderly conduct and transported to St. Croix County Jail. Upon his release, an officer met him at the residence so he could get his vehicle and clothes.

Sunday, March 20

Police responded to vehicle vs. deer crash at 7:34 p.m. near Division Street and Meadows Drive. Courtney Marie Peterfeso, 31, River Falls, struck the deer with her 2008 Lexus GX, causing functional damage. Peterfeso wore a seat belt and reported no injuries. The officer dispatched the deer, which was still alive in the south ditch.

A third party reported a domestic incident at 8:55 p.m. at 131 W. Cascade Ave. A married couple had been arguing about money. A woman, identified as Jennifer Jeannie Boyette, 21, River Falls, wanted to take $20 to go drinking. When her husband tried to prevent her from doing so, she slapped him in the face. She was arrested for domestic disorderly conduct and transported to Pierce County Jail.

Monday, March 21

At 3:49 a.m. an officer was sent to Kwik Trip (1200 S. Main St.) where drugs had been found. An employee had found a small baggie filled with a white powdery substance on the floor. He didn’t see who dropped it. The substance, which weighed one gram, later tested positive for cocaine.

Jamie Lee Wadkins, 37, River Falls, was arrested for a warrant at 1:08 p.m. at 1450 S. Wasson Lane and transported to Pierce County Jail.

A Renaissance Charter School employee reported a runaway juvenile at 1:58 p.m. Another juvenile didn’t arrive home on the bus at 3:15 p.m. at Positive Alternatives (2860 Williams Ave.), so that juvenile was also reported missing. The juveniles later returned to their residence at 4:15 p.m.